Lagman insists divorce law constitutional

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman on Monday insisted that a law on absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage is constitutional, as it is not in conflict with the provisions on marriage enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.

"The enactment of a law on absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage is not prohibited by the constitutional tenets on marriage as a social institution and as the foundation of the family," Lagman said in a statement.

The proposed measure introducing absolute divorce in the Philippines is currently being discussed in the plenary for second reading.

Lagman, one of the authors of the bill, said that the commissioners of the 1986 Constitutional Commission who drafted the Constitution were unanimous in saying that Congress has the power to pass a divorce law.

"Records of the proceedings of the Constitutional Commission document that Commissioners Fr. Joaquin Bernas, Chito Gascon, Jose Bengzon and Maria Teresa Nieva concurred that despite the adoption of these principles on marriage and family life in the 1987 Constitution, the legislature is not foreclosed from instituting absolute divorce," he said.

"No Commissioner registered a dissenting view on this issue," he added.

The lawmaker further said similar or identical provisions on marriage and family are found in other countries, such as Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, El Salvador, among others.

He added that even Canon Law authorizes "canonical divorces," or those that are called "nullification of marriage."

"Unfortunately, what God has put together, couples in irremediably dysfunctional marriages put asunder because of human frailty and mortal limitations," Lagman said.

"While the State protects and preserves marriages, it is also duty bound to extend protection to spouses of shattered marriages beyond repair by allowing them to secure absolute divorce and save their children from the agony and distress of being exposed to their interminable strife," he added.

Lagman earlier said he is confident the Philippines will have a divorce law by the end of the 17th Congress in 2019. — Erwin Colcol/RSJ, GMA News