Solon confident Marcos will support divorce in PH

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) — Some lawmakers are once again seeking to legalize divorce in the country, a move which a veteran congressman believes would be supported by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

"The state should be able to give rescue to couples, particularly women and children, from a house on fire," Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman told CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday.

According to the lawmaker, only the Philippines and Catholic-run city-state Vatican in Rome prohibit divorce.

"Commissioners of the Constitutional Commission of 1986 to 1987 were unanimous in their consensus or opinion that Congress can legislate or enact a divorce law despite the fact that the Philippines acknowledges the marriage as basis of family and social institutions," Lagman said.

"The government should not abandon couples in distress and when there is no possibility of reconciliation," he added.

Lagman said Marcos had expressed openness to legalizing divorce in the country during the campaign.

Lagman recently filed House Bill 78 or the proposed Absolute Divorce Act, a measure which he said would serve as a sequel to the Reproductive Health Law, to protect women and their rights.

In the Senate, neophyte Senator Robin Padilla and reelected Senator Risa Hontiveros have also filed divorce bills as a means to dissolve marriage, apart from their other priority measures in the 19th Congress.

"Now, with the new position of the House of Representatives as well as the Senate, and with the favorable action of President Marcos Jr. on the enactment of a divorce law, I'm confident the 19th Congress will finally enact the absolute divorce law and we are going to join all other countries in legalizing absolute divorce," Lagman said.

In a taped interview with then broadcaster Erwin Tulfo and former Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar in March, Marcos said “there are cases where divorce is called for," but couples must first work hard on their marriages before being given that option.

“We must allow our couples, our married couples to work on their marriages and work hard on it because sometimes it can be fixed. We need to not give them an easy option,” Marcos said.