The Vatican City aside, the Philippines is currently the only place left in the world where divorce is still illegal. While it is possible to have a marriage annulled, this involves a lot of money and can only be done on narrow grounds such as proving a partner’s psychological incapacity.
Senator Raffy Tulfo, however, is hoping to have it legalized. Tulfo pointed out in a recent statement that he fully respects Catholic traditions and laws and is thus ready to sit down with the Catholic Church to explain his proposed Divorce Law, particularly Cardinal-Bishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Archbishop Jose F. Cardinal Advincula, and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ President Bishop Pablo Virgilio S. David.
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Tulfo explains that his stand on the issue has to do with the years he spent dealing with distressed families. “I am taking a new approach towards finally giving distressed Filipino married couples the recourse of absolute divorce,” he says. “We understand the details, complexities, and hardships spouses go through. This is why our bill applies real-world workable and sustainable solutions.”
Tulfo believes that the law needs to accept that some married couples simply do end up with irreconcilable differences. “Bakit pa natin pahihirapan at pagagastusin ang mag-asawang ginawa na ang lahat ngunit sadyang di na talaga magkasundo?” he asks. “Kaya kailangan na po talaga ng divorce bilang option.” [Rough translation: Why should we give married couples a hard time and make them spend a lot of money if they already tried everything and really simply couldm’t get along?]
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