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The Divorce Bill Is Approved on Its Third and Final Reading

The House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 9349, or the Absolute Divorce Act, on its third and final reading.

There were 131 affirmative votes, 109 negative votes, and 20 abstentions.

According to Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who is the author of the bill, “As the only country in the world besides the Vatican where divorce is still illegal, this is a clear and resounding victory and signals the imminent liberation for Filipino wives who are entombed in toxic, abusive, and long-dead marriages.”

The bill states that the following are the grounds for absolute divorce:

  • Physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner;
  • Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation;
  • Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution;
  • Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than 6 years;
  • Drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, or chronic gambling;
  • Homosexuality of the respondent;
  • Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage;
  • Marital infidelity or perversion or having a child with another person other than one’s spouse during the marriage;
  • Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner; and
  • Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year

Read the full bill here.


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