CAGAYAN DE ORO -- While Catholic bishops shudder at mere mention of the word divorce, prelates of breakaway group, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), are open to it.
Bishop Rhee Timbang said IFI supports the passage of the divorce bill, which was re-filed at the House of Representative by party-list women's group Gabriela.
Their support of the measure, however, should not be misconstrued as a disregard to the "sanctity of marriage" but as a matter of practicality, said Timbang.
IFI, he said, looks at divorce not merely from religious prism, but also as a hot-button social issue.
While they believe that couples are duty-bound to keep their marriage vows, the IFI bishop said divorce may be used as a last resort when psychological and incompatibility problems make it difficult for both partners to live together.
IFI's stance on the controversial subject, he said, stems from its teachings that emphasize the "people's rights for freedom, dignity and integrity."
"That also means we should be responsive to the realities of our time," he added.
House Bill 1799 or "An Act Introducing Divorce in the Philippines" was first filed during the 13th and 14th Congress but only reached the committee level. However, Gabriela re-filed the bill in the present Congress.
In a statement, Gabriela said it favors divorce since getting an annulment can be very expensive.
Under the Family Code, annulment is the only ground to restore a single status, allowing each individual to remarry but the process entails proving in court that a marriage is void due to a preexisting condition -- physical or psychological -- that causes inability to perform marital obligations.
Legal separation, meanwhile, recognizes the end of marriage, but at the same time disallows remarriage.
In re-filing the bill, Gabriela said it would help in making sure that the law will not be abused, especially by women.
"The Pinoy-style divorce is designed with enough safeguards to prevent it from becoming a common recourse," Gabriela said in a statement.
Under the bill, a petition for divorce may be filed on the following grounds: separation for at least five years at the time of filing the petition; couples are legally separated for at least two years; any grounds for legal separation like repeated physical violence, drug addiction, imprisonment of spouse for more than six years, bigamous marriage, sexual infidelity, abandonment and frustrated parricide that has caused irreparable damage to the marriage, psychological incapacity and irreconcilable differences.
Timbang said if divorce is the only remaining solution in a marriage, "then there is no problem at all."
"But the church will still guide the couples on not resorting to divorce if possible," he added.
President Benigno Aquino III earlier said a divorce is a "no-no" in his government.
"Definitely I cannot support something like you do in Las Vegas, like you can get married in the morning and you can get divorce in the afternoon," Aquino said.
The President said he prefers legal separation over divorce but said both parties should be given freedom to remarry.
"I recognized that there have been unions that were wrong, and that no matter what interventions are done, no matter what counseling is done, they really can't stay together," he said.
The President's youngest sister, celebrity-host Kris Aquino-Yap, is seeking for nullification of her marriage with basketball star James Yap. (Nicole J. Managbanag/Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)