The separation of husband and wife is never a happy matter. At worst, it is the failure of the most basic social institution, a source of trauma for the spouses and for the children, and the trigger to unleash the ugly sides to human nature—bitterness and vindictiveness, among others. At best, it is the liberation from a miserable relationship and the opportunity to start life over—as though it were ever truly possible.
In the Philippines, there are three legal means by which marriages can be ended.
A declaration of nullity voids a marriage. It is as if there was no marriage between the parties to begin with. There are conditions that can make a marriage null and void, such as defects in the process, but the most popular ground for nullity is psychological incapacity of one or both parties. Article 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines, enacted in 1988, makes this possible. The effect is that it is as though the parties have been single all along, that the marriage was one bad dream.
An annulment recognizes the existence of a marriage until the time it is invalidated. The consent of one or both parties to the marriage must be proven somehow vitiated at the time of the exchange of vows, so that “they did not fully know what they were getting into.†After an annulment, parties are restored to their single status.
Legal separation, on the other hand, does not dissolve the marriage. It is still there, but the parties are allowed by law to live separately from one another. Because the marriage ties remain, neither of the parties are free to re-marry.
Now comes House Bill 1799, filed by Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Emerenciana de Jesus of the Gabriela Party List. The lawmakers believe that divorce should be made an additional option for couples with failed and irreparable relationships.
The bill says divorce can be an option in the event of:
• separation in fact: parties have been separated for 5 years wherein reconciliation is highly improbable;
• legal separation for at least two years wherein reconciliation is highly improbable;
• when the grounds for legal separation cause the irreparable breakdown of the marriage;
• psychological incapacity; and
• when parties suffer from irreconcilable differences that cause the irreparable breakdown of the marriage.
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