The Philippines is one of only two countries in the world where divorce is illegal.
The only other is Vatican City - and with a population of under 1,000 made up of mostly
nuns and priests, divorce isn’t in very high demand.
But in the Philippines, a country with more than 40,000 married couples, more than half
the population supports legalizing the practice.
And as a legalization bill makes it way through the courts … will Filipinos in unhappy marriages
finally get the chance to move on?
Hey guys I’m Alex, this is NowThis World, and on this episode we’re looking at how
the Philippines became one the last countries in the world with a ban on divorce, and how
that affects its people.
First... a little background.
Divorce technically isn’t illegal for everyone.
For the approximately 5% of the population who identify as Muslim in the overwhelmingly
Catholic state, divorce is allowed.
That’s because Muslim Filipinos adhere to a separate legal system called the "Code of
Muslim Personal Laws.”
And, the process hasn't always been illegal - even for non-Muslims.
During decades of Spanish colonization from the 15th to 19th centuries, the practice was
all but banned in the Philippines.
But under the U.S. and Japanese occupations in the early 1900s, divorce was legalized
- within certain limitations.
A few years after the country gained independence from the U.S., the Civil Code of the Philippines
banned it again in 1950.
“ The Catholic church once more reasserted itself in Philippine politics.”
That is Attorney Evalyn Ursua.
She wrote the original divorce bill that’s been adapted into the current proposal moving
through the courts.
She says the Catholic Church wields a significant influence over state.
“The Catholic line is, marriage is sacred, and those who are married should stay together
forever.
But we are a secular society, there is on our constitution there is separation of church
and state.
So the Catholic church should not impose its precepts, its morals, on everyone.”
And today, there are only a few ways for Filipino couples to separate.
And none of them are quick or easy fixes.
The first option, is annulment.
It’s expensive, lengthy, and requires couples to meet very strict legal guidelines.
People seeking an annulment have to meet requirements that including impotence, undisclosed STDs,
lack of parental consent, and a few others.
But domestic violence?
Physical or verbal abuse?
Irreconcilable differences?
According to Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, those don’t meet the
standards for an annulment.
Under a legal separation, couples can live separately and divide their possessions, but
the agreement doesn’t legally end a marriage and therefore doesn’t allow either party
to remarry.
Grounds for filing a legal separation include physical abuse and infidelity, among others.
To declare a marriage null and void, the couple must prove that a valid marriage never legally
existed - that it was considered invalid from the beginning.
The most common route attorneys take to prove a marriage null and void is by proving that
either one or both parties has a “psychological incapacity” to fulfill marital duties.
That usually involves a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist who has to perform a mental
evaluation, and produce a report with the results.
And Attorney Ursua says that’s enough to keep many couples from moving forward with
the separation.
“I’ve had clients who refuse to be declared psychologically incapacitated, especially
if they knew that they worked hard to make the marriage work, they did their best.”
Aside from the many years it can take to overcome these obstacles, legal proceedings can also
cost tens or hundreds of thousand of dollars, and still there’s no guarantee the courts
will rule in favor of separation.
People who have no money to pay for the services of a lawyer are usually stuck in their marriage.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, about one in five Filipinos experience poverty.
The average annulment starts at around 250,000 Philippine pesos, or approximately $4,800
USD.
That’s hardly less than the average family income in the Philippines for an entire year,
which is about $5,000 USD.
This huge cost fosters a breeding ground for scammers, who pose as lawyers offering lower
rates and guarantees of favorable rulings.
These prices also lead many people to simply abandon their marriages.
But for some women, abandoning their marriage isn’t an option.
One in seven married women in the Philippines say they have been physically abused by their
husbands, and 8% say they’ve been sexually abused by their husbands.
Many end up stuck out of fear of retaliation or financial despair.
And that leads us to a very important point - how these strict marriage termination rules
disproportionately affect women.
Women may make up half the country’s population, but only 46% of them are working, compared
to 76% of men.
That means that many women rely on their husbands for financial support.
That, coupled with the pervasive social stigma surrounding ending a marriage, which is particularly
strong for women who are expected to hold the family together, makes it not only logistically
difficult to seek an annulment or legal separation, but financially and emotionally challenging
as well.
We spoke to one Filipina woman who says she felt pressured into getting married and now
she is working with a lawyer to figure out the best way for her to move on from her marriage.
“I got married at 19.
At that age, you’re not matured enough to make wise decisions for yourself.
The question that was given to me was not, do you want to get married?
Are you ready to get married?
But rather, why don’t you get married at this date?
At that point, I could not say no.”
The lower house recently passed the bill, passing the baton to the more conservative
Senate, who must pass a counterpart divorce bill.
Then, it would head to President Duterte’s desk, who could veto it altogether.
Duterte has previously expressed opposition to the bill, despite having his own marriage
annulled before entering office.
But Speaker Alvarez, an ally of the President, said he is optimistic that he can convince
Duterte to sign off on what he called the “dissolution of marriage.”
Alvarez thinks it’s time for the Philippines to catch up to the rest of the world.
“It’s a badge of stupidity… because we are the only country left that hasn’t
seen the problem.
“
The proposed divorce legislation would make it easier for low-income people to get free
legal representation and loosen the grounds for seeking separation in the first place.
“If I were to get a divorce, it would mean a lot to me, because it would mean freedom
for me.
I don’t have to use his name.
And also for my ex, he can marry his partner.
Sometimes you just want to be in love again, you want to be with a person who truly cares
for you and respects you.”