Don’t expect Filipino legislators to come up with an “American style” divorce law that tolerates fickleness when it comes to marriage.Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate, senior deputy minority leader, said this Thursday, a day after members of the House committee on population and family relations agreed to approve in principle the divorce measure, officially called the Marriage Dissolution Bill.
While the pro-divorce measures filed in the 18th Congress still have to undergo consolidation by a technical working group composed of the congressmen themselves, the approval in principle basically guarantees that it will hurdle the committee level. The Marriage Dissolution Bill was passed on third and final reading during the 17th Congress, in March 2018, via nominal voting result of 134-57-2 .Divorce is a contentious topic in the Philippines, being a predominantly Catholic nation. But the fact that the proposed law was given the final nod of the House during the previous Congress says something.