Debate Over Divorce: Philippines remains the only country apart from Vatican without divorce

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Philippine lawmakers from the House of Representatives have passed a bill that would legalize divorce. It is no small feat in the only country in the world apart from the Vatican that has not made divorce legal. But for advocates of the measure, the fight isn't over. CGTN's Barnaby Lo has the story.

For 10 years, Katherine Fegarido waited for a fairy tale ending to her marriage. But the prince charming she had met and had a child with when she was just 17, had turned into a monster she says, soon after they got married.

KATHERINE FEGARIDO BATTERED WIFE "The last time he hurt me, it was just because I told him to get a job. He got mad, grabbed me, and banged my head against the bed's frame. My head bled. I ran but he chased me and hit me with a chair. My daughter was there and got hit too."

That was the last straw for Katherine. For four years now, she has been living as a single mother, but against her will, she remains married.

KATHERINE FEGARIDO BATTERED WIFE "Even though we're not together, I don't feel completely free because on paper, we're still husband and wife. I want to have our marriage annulled but it costs too much to have that useless piece of paper invalidated."

ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO WOMEN'S RIGHTS ADVOCATE "There is annulment, yeah, but annulment conceptually is only for marriages that are void from the start, or there was a defect from the start. And therefore if you file for an annulment, you have to prove that your grounds have existed even before the marriage. That is very difficult to prove."

BARNABY LO MANILA The Philippines is one of only two states in the world without divorce, the other one being the Vatican. But a recent survey showed more than half of Filipinos favor a divorce law. And lawmakers in the Lower House have finally passed a bill that would take the country one step closer to legalizing divorce.

But in devoutly Catholic Philippines, there continues to be resistance. The bill goes to the Senate next, where there is no counterpart measure, and where the Church leadership has allies on the issue.

FR. JEROME SECILLANO CATHOLIC BISHOPS' CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES "We do believe that it's also a legal contract. But if we speak of legality, even the 1987 Constitution and also the Family Code of the Philippines, they actually provide that marriage is a lifetime union between a man and a woman. It is a social institution that shall be protected by the state."

But should the state protect marriages at all cost, asks Katherine, even when a marriage proves unhealthy, unhappy, and beyond salvation? Barnaby Lo, CGTN, Manila.