WE, various faith-based organizations from the Catholic, evangelical and protestant communities have come together to strongly oppose consolidated House Bill No. 7303 on Absolute Divorce, which was recently passed by the House of Representatives.
First, it is unconstitutional. The Constitution (Article XV, Section 2) clearly guarantees that “Marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State.” The State is mandated to protect rather than diminish Marriage as an institution.
Second, it is against our Christian faith. Divorce violates the Christian doctrine on the sanctity and indissolubility of marriage. Jesus said “Man must not separate, then, what God has put together” (Mark 10:9). Jesus added, “A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. In the same way, a woman who divorces his husband and marries another man commits adultery.” (Mark 10:11-12)
Our present laws already allow marriage to be declared void or voidable. Annulment is also allowed under certain circumstances.
But there is a fundamental difference between annulment and divorce. In annulment, the marriage is deficient from the start, and so there is no valid marriage to speak of. In divorce, there is a valid marriage at the start but due to some causes occurring later, the marriage is being dissolved.
Marriage is not an ordinary contract or union but a sacrament, a covenant before God. It is a sacred union between man, woman, and God to establish a family.
Third, it is anti-family and anti-children. Divorce does not solve problems, it breaks up families.
The children will be the biggest victims of any divorce. They will suffer the most, more than either of the parents. The separation of parents inflicts lingering emotional, psychological, mental, and detrimental impact on the children, that they often carry into their adult and own married lives, unless consciously addressed early.
Not even financial support can address nor heal the wounds. It will have tremendous effect on their peace of mind, and the happiness of the entire family.
Worst of all, the children themselves may opt to seek divorce as an easy way out at the instance of any marital crisis when they themselves are married. Thus, the virus of divorce could be passed on by the parents to their children, and so on, destroying our families, as well as the moral fiber of our society as a whole.