Tuesday, July 25 – Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez today said his proposal for a law on dissolution of marriage will help strengthen the bond between spouses and is consistent with the constitutional mandate to protect the family as a basic social institution.
“Itong batas na ito ay magpapatibay ng pag-preserba mo ng pamilya. Bakit po? Kasi kapag nagpakasal kayo, both parties will now be obliged to make the other party happy. Kasi kapag hindi hindi po niya ginawa yung tungkulin niya bilang asawa, bilang kabiyak, ay yung asawa niya, kung hindi na masaya, ay mayroong karapatan para mag-file ng dissolution of marriage,” Alvarez said in a radio interview.
Alvarez noted that under his proposal unhappiness of either party over the marital union would be recognized as a ground for the dissolution of marriage.
“Sa ngayon po ang nangyayari kampante tayo na kapag nagpakasal na, kung ano-ano na lang ang ginagawa: hindi umuuwi sa bahay, nakikipag-inuman, hindi nagtatrabaho, pinagtatrabaho yung isang spouse lang,” Alvarez pointed out.
He also cited complaints of many female Overseas Filipino Workers that while they were trying to earn abroad to send money to their family, their husband took on another partner.
Because of the existing laws on family relations, Alvarez said the annulment process is adversarial and the party seeking annulment should prove the partner is not fit to contract marriage. Besides, he said the process is not only long but also very costly.
“Kaya ko lang naman po talaga itong tinutulak dahil gusto ko pong i-address yung mga hinaing po ng karamihan. Ang dami po na mga married couples na hindi na po talaga nagkakasundo. Gusto nilang tapusin yung kanilang pagsasama,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said the state should make it easier to separate couples whose marriages are on the rocks and whose relationships are already irreconcilable.
“Kaya para sa akin po, bakit pahirapan natin yung tao, puwede naman pong kapag nagkasundo na tayo na maghiwalay, then let us file a joint petition sa korte po for the dissolution of our marriage,” Alvarez said.
As a lawyer, Alvarez said he had many women clients who had sought his counsel for annulment of marriage due to various complaints against their husbands. Most common among these complaints is that the husband is jobless and does nothing to support the family, according to Alvarez.
He said that under his proposal, the process for the dissolution of marriage starts with the filing before the court a joint petition of the couple. The petition should include the agreement of the couple on the custody of the children and their support, as well as the sharing in the division of their properties.
As a safeguard, Alvarez said the judge would determine if there is no coercion from any of the parties for the dissolution of the union.
Meanwhile, Alvarez said that to set the record straight he does not stand to benefit from his proposed law for dissolution of marriage.
“Ang dissolution of marriage po, iyan ay fi-nile ko, hindi po para sa sarili ko, dahil hindi ko po iyan kailangan, dahil ako po ay miyembro ng isang tribe sa Mindanao kung saan po puwede po sa amin yung multiple marriages. At yung naggo-govern po na batas sa amin ay yung kultura po ng tribo,” Alvarez said. ### Congress-PR / PTV