Is divorce coming to the Philippines?

Divorce is illegal for most residents of the Philippines, despite a special law that gave the nation's Muslim minority the right to legally end their marriage. The Christian majority, however, remains deeply affected by the Catholic Church and the rules espoused by the Vatican — the only other country in the world to still ban divorce.

This May, however, the Philippine House of Representatives narrowly passed the Absolute Divorce Act, a proposed law that would dramatically change the country's legal stance on marriage dissolution. The bill expands on existing options such as annulment, legal separation and psychological incapacity.

If enacted, the law would allow couples to file for divorce if they have been separated for at least five years and reconciliation is deemed impossible, or if they have been legally separated for more than two years. It would also incorporate justifications already recognized in annulment and legal separation cases, such as abandonment and infidelity.

Catholic bishops warn against 'divorce bandwagon'

At the same time, the bill would not introduce no-fault divorce and, except in cases where a spouse or child is in danger, it would require a 60-day cooling-off period to give couples a last chance to reconcile.

"Lawmakers must recognize that this is a civil policy that does not interfere with personal beliefs or family dynamics," activist AJ Alfafara of the Divorce Pilipinas Coalition told DW.

"Instead, it provides a vital option for many Filipinos who have been living separately for years but lack legal recognition of their status," she added.

The next step, however, lies with the Senate, the upper house of parliament, which has been sitting on the bill since June. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has urged caution, warning about the dangers of "jumping onto the divorce bandwagon" in July.

Challenges for Filipinos seeking divorce

At present, Filipinos seeking to end their marriages have limited options. Legal separation allows spouses to live apart but does not dissolve the marriage, while annulment is often prohibitively expensive and requires proof that the marriage was invalid from the start. These options remain out of reach for many Filipinos, leaving them trapped in dysfunctional or often dangerous relationships.

There is also social pressure in favor of marriage among the country's Christian majority, which comprises almost 88% of the population.

Support for divorce, however, appears to be growing. A March survey by the Social Weather Stations found that 50% of Filipino adults are in favor of legalizing divorce, while 31% oppose it.

Another survey, conducted with church-based media outlets, revealed that only 34% of respondents supported divorce due to "irreconcilable differences," but more than half approved of divorce in cases of domestic abuse.

Divorce abroad now valid in Philippines

Advocates of the bill have largely focused on how it could offer women a legal escape from abusive relationships.

Some campaigners argue that momentum for legalizing divorce gained traction last month when the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that the country must recognize foreign divorce decrees. The ruling applied to cases where a Filipino is married to a foreigner and the divorce is obtained abroad.

"The court held that the type of divorce, whether administrative or judicial, did not matter. As long as the divorce is valid under the foreign spouse's national law, it will be recognized in the Philippines for the Filipino spouse," the judges said in their ruling.

Will the Senate act?

Opinions are divided on whether the Supreme Court's ruling will impact the Senate's decision on the divorce bill. Jeofrey Abalos, a demographer at the Australian National University, believes the ruling will have "little effect" as only about 1% of registered marriages in the Philippines involve a foreign national.

"The situation of this small segment of Filipinos who obtained divorce abroad is very much different from the circumstances of many Filipinos seeking to legally terminate their marriage, so this ruling may not fully resonate," Abalos told DW.

On the other hand, Alfafara argues that the ruling paves the way for a broader understanding of marital dissolution.

"The absence of divorce rights infringes on basic human rights, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," she said.

The bill now hinges on the Senate's decision. A similar measure was rejected in 2018, and the current Senate composition includes many conservative Catholic or Christian senators who have publicly opposed the idea of divorce.

Senators want to change bill's wording

Some lawmakers have proposed workarounds to tone down the language of the bill to get it over the line. 

Influential Senator Jinggoy Estrada has suggested improving the annulment process instead of legalizing divorce. "We should look at how to make marriage annulments more accessible and their processes less taxing," Estrada said in a statement, according to broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Last month, Senate President Francis Escudero offered a different perspective, proposing that lawmakers "remove the word 'divorce'" from the bill. "We already have divorce in our country, it's just not called divorce. It's called nullity of marriage," Escudero told reporters in late September.

Running out of time

The fate of the divorce bill remains uncertain, especially with midterm elections approaching in May, when all 317 seats in the House of Representatives and half of the 24 seats in the Senate will be contested.

If the Senate does not pass the bill before then, it will expire, forcing the newly-elected House of Representatives to start the legislative process over again.

"Given that midterm elections are coming up, there is little time for the bill to go through the legislative process," Athena Charanne Presto, a sociologist and senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines Diliman,  told DW.

Despite this, Alfafara remains optimistic. She believes the current bill has come further than any previous attempts to legalize divorce in the Philippines, and while obstacles remain, the growing public support could make a difference in the years to come.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic