Philippines approves bill recognizing church annulments

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Till death do us part. There’s probably no other country in the world where this statement is taken more seriously than in the Philippines – the only country in the world, along with the Vatican, of course, that forbids divorce. Couples wishing to end their marriage in the predominantly-Catholic country resort to legal separation, or the costly and tedious process of annulment.

It is indeed a win for advocates and married couples wanting to end their union when Congress overwhelmingly approved the proposed law that would make annulment simpler and cheaper by streamlining the process.

A general view shows the Plenary Hall of the Philippine House of Representatives /VCG Photo

On the recent third and final reading of the House Bill 6779, or "An Act Recognizing the Civil Effects of Church Annulment Decrees," 203 out of the 292 members of the House approved that church-decreed annulments will have the same weight as court-sanctioned rulings.

According to a press release from Congress, “the status of children of marriage subject of the church annulment decree shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order No. 209, otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines” and that “both former spouses may marry again” after the annulment.

Representative Yedda Romualdez, the bill’s author and principal sponsor, said she was inspired by Pope Francis and wanted to offer Catholics a more efficient means to resolve “irreparable marriages.”

“While he reaffirmed traditional teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, he streamlined annulment procedures which many considered cumbersome, lengthy, outdated and expensive to make it affordable and accessible to Catholics,” Romualdez said in a previous interview with local media.

She also stressed that the bill will provide a smooth process of church annulment while still respecting the sanctity of marriage.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank my colleagues for the swift passage of the bill without jeopardizing the indissolubility of marriage.”

Catholic bishops welcomed the newly-passed bill saying it’s “very logical” and “upholds the indissolubility of marriage.”

"[It] is favorable to the church in her mission to protect marriage," said Bishop Arturo Bastes in an interview with an independent Catholic news source.

The measure will now be transmitted to the Senate for its own deliberations.

Annulment in the Philippines

Filipino churchgoers hold hands while singing a religious song. /VCG Photo

Secular annulment is technically the only legal way to get out of a marriage in the Philippines. The process, which usually takes two to five years, sometimes even decades, is nearly impossible to attain. Not to mention that it could be very expensive and way beyond the reach of most people.

Annulment also requires proof that one partner “was psychologically incapacitated” from the beginning of the marriage. Couples often resort to paying psychologists and psychiatrists just to fabricate diagnoses.

With the new proposed law, a bishop may be allowed to hear a case and grant an annulment in less than two months, eliminating the previous (long and costly) legal requirement that each case should be reviewed by another set of judges.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that more Catholic couples in the country will be expected to seek annulment once this bill becomes law. Data from CBCP shows that their matrimonial tribunal receives an average of 60 marriage annulment cases every year.

One step closer to divorce?

A community health worker holds up contraceptives during a lecture on family planning at a reproductive health clinic run by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Tondo city, Metro Manila, January 12, 2016. /VCG Photo

Only Filipino Muslims may divorce under the Code of Muslim Personal Law. Since 2016, the Philippines became the only country in the world to not legalize divorce.

Some lawmakers and many women’s groups have been clamoring and fighting for the legalization of divorce for years now. Last year, Gabriela Women’s Party filed a proposed divorce bill for the fifth time in Congress. The bill has never been passed.

In a country where 80 percent of the population is Catholic, and the Church plays a very big role in society and politics, lawmakers are cautious as priests and bishops openly lambaste politicians and even threaten to excommunicate them.

The little hope for advocates could come from the fact that five years ago, the country passed the Reproductive Health law, which allows the use of artificial contraception. The bill was in Congress for 16 years before it was passed.