Hontiveros meets divorce advocates; Villanueva vows enmity towards bill

As advocates for the legalization of divorce met with Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday, Senator Joel Villanueva vowed he would bar any effort to institute the process in the Philippines.

“Hindi natin kultura ito. We should not be embracing… hindi ito dapat payagan. Over my dead body ang divorce,” declared Villanueva.

As an alternative, Villanueva suggested that the Senate could instead seek amendments to the annulment process which would make it accessible to the less wealthy.

“I will not use the word ‘relax’ on the annulment. Dapat same access ang mayayaman at mahihirap,” he explained.

Important stage

Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, met with major advocacy groups who were seeking to create momentum for the passage of a divorce law.

Among the groups that met with Hontiveros were Divorce Advocates of the Philippines (DAP), Boses ng Kababaihan, Divorce for the Philippines Now International (DIPI), Divorce Philippines Coalition (DPC), and Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage Philippines (DDoMPh).

The senator, in filing Senate Bill Number 356 or the Divorce Act of 2019, sought to make "psychological incapacity of either spouse," "irreconcilable marital differences," marital rape, or being "separated for at least 5 years" grounds for divorce.

Hontiveros said the meeting marked an important stage in the effort to have a divorce law in the country.

“It's time that we gave Filipinos the chance to free themselves from abusive, loveless and unhappy relationships, and to help them find love and start all over again,” she emphasized.

The senator added that her office was in the process of consolidating the different versions of the bill, setting the appropriate committee hearings, and talking to like-minded legislators. — DVM, GMA News