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These men have no marital experience, why should they have an opinion?
asked Jelen Paclarin of the Womens Legal and Human Rights Bureau
(WLB), a non-governmental organization championing womens rights.
"The Church should have no say. It's not part of their mandate anymore,"
Paclarin argued.
"Why are religious standards applied in civil law?" the WLB asked. "If
the basis for allowing divorce among Muslim Filipinos is religion,
aren't other Filipinos who do not subscribe to religious dogma against
divorce entitled to avail of divorce as well?"
Verceles believes the divorce bill will not triumph anytime soon,
especially since elections are nearing, Politicians share the CBCPs
sentiments, they need votes."
She pointed out that some politicians had "quick" annulments since they
can afford it. Some of these "quickie courts" may involve corruption .
Not all men, however, are like this. Verceles lauded the likes of
Congressman Edcel Lagman, a staunch RH advocate. At the same time, not
all women are pro-women, citing Congresswoman Lucy Torres-Gomez, an RH
law opponent.
Money talks
At present, poor women rely only on pro-bono lawyers for annulment. Such
should not be the case for divorce.
Women should also be educated about their rights and legal options.
Consultation workshops on divorce could help get the people's pulse and
problems, said WLB.
WLB also calls for scraping the country's infidelity laws discriminating
against women .
Ilagan admits the bill would most likely fail in the 16th Congress, but
that it is good that more people are now talking about divorce and its
merits.
"It's not a Las Vegas kind of divorce; get married today, divorce
tomorrow," Ilagan said. "Lets not pretend our societies don't have
[marital] problems. What were proposing is just another remedy."
The logic is simple, advocates say: If you don't want a divorce, don't
get one, but don't force others to agree with you. If they want it, let
them.
Just like the RH law, divorce has a long battle ahead. Until then, many
Filipinos might stay blind to the reality that not all marriages will
last.