Lacson, Sotto differ on legalization of divorce

PORAC, Pampanga— Unlike his running mate, Panfilo Lacson, who supports the legalization of divorce in the Philippines, vice presidential candidate and Senate President Vicente Sotto III suggests making it easier for couples to get an annulment.

At a town hall meeting on Saturday, Sotto warned that divorce can be exploited.

“Ang stand po namin sa issue ng divorce ano, kasi naniniwala po ako na puwede abusuhin e. Ang mas itutulak po namin 'yung luwagan 'yung annulment, ‘yung mga procedures on annulment... kasi raw mahal, matagal,” Sotto said.

(Divorce can be exploited. What I will push for is to make the annulment procedure easier because it is said to be costly and time-consuming.)

“’Yun na lang ang luwagan imbes na ipasok natin dito yung….Tsaka di lahat ng grupo sang-ayon dun e baka mahirapan tayo,” he added.

(Rather than introducing divorce into our country, we should make the annulment process easier. Legalization of divorce is not supported by all groups. It's possible that we'll have problems passing that.)

Lacson, who voiced his support for the passage of a divorce law during the CNN presidential debate last month, said while he and Sotto work as a "team," it doesn't mean that their ideas are "strictly aligned."

The presidential candidate explained his stance on divorce by citing a Supreme Court ruling in the case of a Filipino woman who got a divorce decree from a Japanese court in order to legally end her marriage to her Japanese husband.

In its decision, the SC said a foreign decree of divorce may be recognized in the Philippines even if it was the Filipino spouse who initiated and obtained the same.

According to Lacson, this jurisprudence is only applicable to Filipinos who were married in Japan, and he said that it should be extended to Filipinos who were married in other countries as well.

“Dito, you can have it annulled but your marriage in the US will be valid in the Philippines kasi kasal kayo doon e…so naka-stuck kayo sa kasal nyo sa Amerika because wala tayong divorce law,” he said.

(Here, you can have it annulled, but your marriage in the US will still be valid in the Philippines. So, you're stuck with your marital status in America because we do not have a divorce law.)

Lacson went on to say that the requirements for annulment are quite similar to those for divorce. An annulment, on the other hand, is prohibitively expensive because it necessitates the payment of a psychiatrist, he said. — VBL, GMA News