Number of Filipinos filing for annulment, legal separation cases up

By ANNIE RUTH SABANGAN, GMANews.TV

Published April 1, 2008 8:52pm

Divorce Magazine.com listed areas where percentage of divorce is high.

Sweden	54.9%
Belarus	52.9%
Finland -	51.2%
Luxembourg	47.4%
Estonia	46.7%
Australia	46%
United States	45.8%
Denmark	44.5%
Belgium	44%
Austria	43.4%
Czech Republic	43.3%
Russia	43.3%
United Kingdom	42.6%
Norway	40.4%
Ukraine	40%

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos, most, if not all of them Catholics who are supposed to be monogamous and loyal to their partners, are trooping to the courts to file cases of annulment or legal separation. In 2007, there were 7,753 cases of annulment and legal separation filed at the Office of the Solicitor General, a 71.5 percent jump from the 4,520 cases filed in 2001. From 2001 to 2007, the OSG received 43,617 cases of annulment and separation. The figure could have been higher if more married people have the means to break their ties legally. Based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, of the 57.1 million Filipinos aged ten years and over, one percent or 558,023 were either divorced or separated; 2.4 million or 4.3 percent were in live-in arrangements; 4.1 percent or 2.4 million were widowed; 45.7 percent or 26.1 million were married; and 44 percent were single. Based on the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study, 40 percent of the youth would support a bill to legalize divorce in the country. The Philippines and Malta are the only remaining countries in the world where divorce is banned. - GMANews.TV

Tags: annulment, legalseparation, husband, wife, couple