CBCP facade. (File photo)
MANILA -- A divorce law in the country is not needed as there are already legal processes in place for couples having marital problems, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Wednesday.
“We acknowledge that marital relationships are not always perfect. But there are legal processes already available to couples on verge separation,” Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP-Permanent Committee on Public Affairs (PCPA) said in an interview.
Currently, estranged couples in the country have the option to file an annulment of marriage or legal separation.
Secillano's remark came after a Senate hearing tackled a measure allowing divorce in the country, where supporters of the measure, primarily victims of abuse, shared their ordeal.
“Why can't Sen. Risa Hontiveros focus on reforming these processes? They are guaranteed to be legal and constitutional, and she can even make them less tedious and less expensive,” Secillano said.
Hontiveros is the author of Senate Bill 356 which seeks to allow absolute divorce or the dissolution of marriage in the country.
He added that "divorce can never be pro-marriage, pro-family and pro-children".
"Is she saying now that the family code and our Constitution are anti-family, anti-marriage and anti-children since they do not guarantee divorce?” he added.
The CBCP-PCPA official noted that people deserve better than pushing for something that will destroy families.
“Let's not twist facts just to suit a particular agenda. Divorce is a form of "ideological colonization", Secillano added.
Catholic Church officials have repeatedly opposed the passage of divorce law, saying that it is anti-marriage and anti-family.
The Philippines and the Vatican City are the remaining two nations in the world where divorce is outlawed. (PNA)
