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Claim: Divorce has been legalized in the Philippines.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has over 3 million views, 213,300 likes, 70,300 shares, and 6,918 comments as of writing.
Text in the video states: “Finally, approved na ang divorce dito sa Pilipinas. House Bill 9349.” (Finally, divorce has been approved here in the Philippines. House Bill 9349.)
The video caption claims that divorce is now legal in the Philippines and mentions the House of Representatives passing the Absolute Divorce Bill on final reading.
The facts: While the video does show the House of Representatives passing House Bill No. 9349, this does not mean divorce has been legalized in the Philippines. For a bill to become law, it must be approved by both houses of Congress and receive presidential approval.
After a bill passes the House, it is transmitted to the Senate for review, amendments, and hearings. Once the Senate approves it, a bicameral committee resolves any differences with the House version. The reconciled version of the bill must then be approved by both chambers. Only after this process can the President sign it into law or veto it, with Congress able to override a veto by a two-thirds majority vote. If the President does not sign a bill within 30 days from receipt in his office, the bill may lapse into law.
As of writing, divorce remains illegal in the Philippines because the measure allowing couples to terminate their marriage through absolute divorce has not yet passed all these steps.
The House approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 9349 on May 22, 2024.
In September 2023, the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality approved Senate Bill No. 2443, a consolidated measure on absolute divorce. As of writing, it is pending second reading.
Absolute divorce: House Bill No. 9349, authored by Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman, seeks to legalize absolute divorce in the Philippines, citing grounds like psychological incapacity, abandonment without justifiable cause, bigamy, drug addiction, infidelity, domestic or marital abuse, and irreconcilable differences, among others.
Lagman argues that the bill provides an alternative to annulment for victims, especially women in abusive marriages. (READ: [Rappler Investigates] They want out, but can’t)
In the upper chamber, Senate Bill No. 2443 faces mixed opinions. The measure’s authors — senators Risa Hontiveros, Raffy Tulfo, Robinhood Padilla, Pia Cayetano, and Imee Marcos — are in favor of the measure. Senators JV Ejercito and Grace Poe are also reportedly in favor of the bill.
Meanwhile, Senators Joel Villanueva, Jinggoy Estrada, Chiz Escudero, and Migz Zubiri oppose the bill, citing reasons such as the sanctity of marriage and a preference for focusing on making the annulment of marriages more accessible. (READ: [ANALYSIS] A lawyer looks at the divorce bill in the Philippines)
Church leads opposition: The Philippines remains the only country, along with the Vatican, without a divorce law.
The Catholic Church strongly opposes the passage of a divorce bill, with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) arguing that it would harm families and undermine marriage.
The CBCP calls divorce “anti-family, anti-marriage, and anti-children,” and urged Filipinos to “discern together,” even as it acknowledges that it cannot impose its views on the state. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com
Marjuice Destinado is a Rappler intern. She is a third-year political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU), serving as feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.
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1 comment
How does this make you feel?
So sad. I do not believe that divirce will ever be legal in the Philippines in my lifetime. Primarily due to the church’s control of the Philippine government.
Also, how can the Philippine church believe that they are right and every other country in the planet are wrong. Forget about the Vatican City, only about 20 couples from there are married out of a population of about 800. So it is in no way a comparible country.
I have the greatest pity for the Philippine people trapped in incompatible marriages.
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