admin 
Ni Ernie Reyes
INAPRUBAHAN ng isang Senate panel ang consolidated measure na magbibigay pamamaraan sa absolute divorce sa Pilipinas kahit maraming tutol na sekta sa panukala.
Bahagi ang pagtatakda ng diborsiyong Senate Bill No. 2443, na may layunin na palawakin ang kadahilanan sa paglusaw ng kasal.
Inaprubahan ito ng Senate committee on women, children, family relation and gender equality, na nagpalabas ng committee report upang aprubahan sa plenaryo.
Kabilang sa awtor ng consolidated bill sina Senador Risa Hontiveros, chairman ng komite at sina Senador Raffy Tulfo, Robin Padilla, Pia Cayetano, at Imee Marcos.
Bukod sa limang awtor, lumagda din sa panukala sina Senador JV Ejercito, Grace Poe, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III at Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda.
“The state shall assure that the court proceedings for the grant of absolute divorce shall be affordable, expeditious, and inexpensive, particularly for indigent litigants,” ayon sa panukala.
Tinukoy ng panukala ang absolute divorce bilang “the legal termination of a marriage by a court in a legal proceeding.”
“A petition or complaint for divorce must be filed by one or both spouses, which would have “the effect of returning both parties to the status of single for all legal intents and purposes, including the right to contract a subsequent marriage,” nakatakda sa panukala.
Samantala, ipinakakahulugan ng panukala ang marriage annulment o paglusaw bilang “refers to a marriage duly solemnized by a priest, imam, rabbi, or presiding elder of a church or religious entity, or duly solemnized or performed by an elder or leader of an indigenous cultural community (ICC) or indigenous people (IP) in the Philippines, which is subsequently annulled, dissolved, declared a nullity, or terminated in a final judgment or pronouncement in accordance with the canons or precepts of such church, religious entity, or customs and practices of ICCs or IPs.”
Kabilang sa listahan ng ground para sa absolute divorce ang mga sumusunod:
1. Five years of separation, whether continuous or broken, without a judicial decree of separation
2. The commission of the crime of rape by the respondent-spouse against the petitioner-spouse, whether before or after the celebration of their marriage;
3. The grounds for legal separation under article 55 of the Family Code or any other special law
4. A final decree of absolute divorce validly obtained in a foreign jurisdiction by any Filipino citizen, regardless of who they married;
5. Irreconcilable marital differences or irreparable breakdown of the marriage, despite earnest efforts at reconciliation, subject to a cooling off period of 60 days pursuant to Section 8 of this Act;
6. A marriage annulment or dissolution, duly authorized by a church or religious entity, or a marriage termination duly authorized by customs and practices traditionally recognized, accepted and observed by an ICC 15 or IP to which the parties belong, having the same effect as a decree of divorce, annulment, dissolution or declaration of nullity issued by a competent court.
7. According to the bill, a joint petition filed by both spouses with common children should be accompanied by a joint plan for parenthood, which provides for the support, custody, and living arrangements of the common children.
“If the court determines that the joint plan for parenthood is adequate to protect the rights and interests of the common children, the court shall approve the joint plan for parenthood together with the grant of a divorce decree if warranted,” ayon sa panukala.
Makukulong ang sinuman kapag nabigong tuparin ang “court-ordered child support and/or court-ordered spousal support” ng prision mayor at multang P300,000 na nakatakda sa bill.
