Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.  ________ 
Introduced by  
REPRESENTATIVE PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTING ABSOLUTE DIVORCE AND DISSOLUTION OF 
MARRIAGE IN THE PHILIPPINES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
On July 24, 2017, during the 17th Congress, the undersigned filed a 
bill titled “An Act Providing For Grounds For The Dissolution Of A Marriage” 
which was then docketed as House Bill No. 6027. 
Said Bill was then referred to the appropriate Committee and, after 
much deliberations, the provisions were incorporated with House Bill No. 
7303, the amended version of the latter became the substitute bill that was 
approved on the third reading by the House of Representatives and was 
then transmitted to the Senate of the Philippines on March 20, 2018.  
Unfortunately, the Bill did not succeed at the Senate. Hence, this Bill 
was again refiled by the undersigned in the 18th Congress on July 17, 2019 
and was docketed as House Bill No. 2263.  
The version of the bill that was approved on third reading and 
transmitted to the Senate during the 17th Congress and was duly refiled 
in the 18th Congress is herein reproduced, refiled once more, and its 
passage is earnestly sought. 
PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ 
September 19, 2022
5:19 pm
4998


Page 1 of 18 
Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _________ 
Introduced by  
REPRESENTATIVE PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTING ABSOLUTE DIVORCE AND DISSOLUTION OF 
MARRIAGE IN THE PHILIPPINES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. –  This act shall be known as the “Absolute 
Divorce Act of 2022”. 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – While the State continues to 
protect and preserve marriage as a social institution and as the foundation 
of the family, it shall also give the opportunity to spouses in irremediably 
failed marriages to secure an absolute divorce decree under limited 
grounds and well-defined judicial procedures to terminate a continuing 
dysfunction of a long broken marriage; save the children from the pain, 
stress, and agony consequent to their parents’ constant marital clashes; 
and grant the divorced spouses the right to marry again for another 
chance to achieve enduring and more compatible marital relations.  
4998


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SECTION 3. Guiding Principles. – The following shall be the 
guiding principles of this Act: 
(a) Absolute divorce shall be judicially decreed after the fact of an
irremediably broken marital union or a marriage that is
defective from the start;
(b) The State shall assure that the court proceedings for the grant of
absolute divorce shall be affordable and inexpensive,
particularly for court-assisted litigants or petitioners;
(c) Concerned spouses have the option to file for absolute divorce
under this Act or seek legal separation, annulment of marriage
or nullification of marriage under the pertinent provisions of
Executive Order No. 209, otherwise known as the Family Code
of the Philippines;
(d) the option of absolute divorce is a pro-woman legislation
because, in most cases, it is the wife who is entitled to a divorce
as a liberation from an abusive relationship and to help her
regain dignity and self-esteem;
(e) A six (6)-month cooling-off period is instituted after the filing of
petition for absolute divorce as a final attempt for reconciliation
of concerned spouses;
(f) A divorce decree shall include provisions for the care and
custody of children, protection of their legitime, termination and
liquidation of the conjugal partnership of gains or the absolute
community, and alimony for the petitioner; and
(g) Even when absolute divorce is instituted, the State has the role


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of strengthening marriage and family life by undertaking 
relevant prenuptial and post-matrimonial programs and 
activities 
SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. – As used in this Act: 
(a) Abandonment refers to the act of leaving a husband or wife from
the conjugal home without justifiable cause and with a deliberate
intention of creating a perpetual separation. The desertion
amounts to an absolute cessation of marital relations, rights and
duties;
(b) Absolute divorce refers to the separation between married couples
that is total and final where the husband and wife return to their
status of being single with the right to contract marriage again;
(c) Alcoholism refers to a habitual or excessive drinking of alcoholic
liquor, often resulting in impaired social functioning and
damage to the liver, heart and nervous system;
(d) Alimony refers to an allowance for support made under court
order to a divorced person by the former spouse, usually the
main financial provider during the marriage;
(e) Bigamous marriage refers to a second or subsequent marriage
contracted before the former marriage has been legally
dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been declared
presumptively dead by means of a judgment rendered in the
proper proceedings;
(f) Child refers to a descendant of the first degree by birth, and shall
include an offspring by legal adoption or one whose custody and
care is judicially decreed to be given to a guardian;


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(g) Child custody refers to the parental authority and care of a child
as decreed by a competent court when the parents of the child
are divorced;
(h) Child support refers to a method of compensating a parent
needing monies for raising and sheltering a child by the other
parent who has the means to manage the expenses associated
with child support. A court of law usually determines the
payments based on the income level of the other parent and the
needs of the child;
(i) Chronic gambling refers to a disorder of impulse control in which
a person makes wagers of various types which compromise,
disrupt or damage family, work and social relations, and
vocational pursuits;
(j) Competent court refers to the proper family court established
under Republic Act No. 8369 or the “Family Courts Act of 1997,”
which shall exercise jurisdiction over both the absolute divorce
proceeding and the persons of the petitioner and respondent
spouses;
(k) Court-assisted petitioner or petitioners refer to those who have
personal or real properties not exceeding Five million pesos (Php
5,000,000.00), whether single or jointly;
(l) Domestic or marital abuse refers to violence or aggressive behavior
within the home, typically involving the violent abuse of a
spouse by the other. It may be committed in the form of:
(1) Physical violence;
(2) Psychological and emotional violence;
(3) Sexual violence; or


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(4) Economic abuse;
(m) Drug addiction refers to habitual dependence on a prohibited
drug or drugs; 
(n) Homosexual refers to a person who is attracted to persons of the
same sex;
(o) Insanity refers to a condition or a manifestation in language or in
conduct of a disease or defect of the brain.  It is more or less a
permanent disease or disorder condition of the mentality,
functional or organic, and characterized by perversion,
inhibition, or disordered function of the sensory or of the
intellectual faculties, or by impaired or disordered volition;
(p) Irreconcilable differences refer to existence of overriding conflicts
between a married couple that are so pronounced and beyond
repair as to make the marriage unworkable, and for which the
law permits a divorce;
(q) Joint petition refers to the legal action filed by both spouses before
the family court for the dissolution of their marriage based on
any of the grounds for absolute divorce provided for in this Act;
(r) Legitime refers to the portion of a parent’s estate from which they
cannot disinherit the children without sufficient legal cause;
(s) Marital infidelity refers to unfaithfulness of a spouse during the
marriage;
(t) Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) or migrant worker refers to a citizen
of the Philippines who is living and working in a foreign country,
typically on a temporary basis with a work contract or as defined
under Section 3 of Republic Act No. 8042, as amended by


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Republic Act No. 10022, otherwise known as the “Migrant 
Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995”; 
(u) Psychological incapacity refers to the condition provided for in
Article 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines which warrants
the nullification of a marriage;
(v) Sex reassignment surgery refers to the procedure by which a
person’s physical appearance and function of primary sex
characteristics are altered to resemble that of the identified or
preferred gender;
(w)
Summary judicial proceedings refer to an expeditious manner of
resolving a petition for divorce without regard to technical rules 
and the petitioner is given the option to be assisted or not by a 
lawyer. The proper court may allow presentation of evidence ex 
parte as warranted by circumstances. The decision shall be 
immediately final and executory; 
(x) Transgender refers to those whose gender identity or expression
differs from what is typically associated with the sex assigned at
birth; and
(y) Transsexual refers to a person who emotionally and
psychologically feels that one belongs to the opposite sex, who
opts for a transition from one sex to another through the use of
hormones or surgical procedure.
SEC 5. Grounds for Absolute Divorce. – The following are the 
grounds for a judicial decree of absolute divorce: 
(a) The grounds for a legal separation under Article 55 of the Family
Code of the Philippines, modified or amended, as follows:


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(1) Physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed
against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the
petitioner;
(2) Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the
petitioner to change religious or political affiliation;
(3) Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner,
a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in
prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or
inducement;
(4) Final 
judgment 
sentencing 
the 
respondent 
to
imprisonment of more than six (6) years, even if pardoned;
(5) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism or chronic gambling
of the respondent;
(6) Homosexuality of any of the spouses;
(7) Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous
marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad;
(8) Marital infidelity or perversion or having a child with
another person other than one’s spouse during the
marriage, except when upon the mutual agreement of the
spouses, a child is born to them by in vitro or a similar
procedure or when the wife bears a child after being a
victim of rape;
(9) Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner,
a common child or a child of the petitioner; and
(10) Abandonment of petitioner and/or their children under
the custody of the petitioner by respondent without
justifiable cause for more than one (1) year.


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When the spouses are legally separated by judicial decree for more 
than two (2) years, either or both spouses can petition the proper court for 
an absolute divorce based on said judicial decree of legal separation; 
(b)Grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the
Family Code of the Philippines restated as follows:
(1) The party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage
annulled was eighteen (18) years of age or over but below
twenty-one (21), and the marriage was solemnized
without the consent of the parents, guardian or person
having substitute parental authority over the party, in that
order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one (21),
such party freely cohabitated with the other and both lived
together as husband and wife;
(2) Either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after
coming to reason, freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife;
(3) The consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless
such party afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts
constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife;
(4) The consent of either party was obtained by force,
intimidation or undue influence, unless the same having
disappeared or ceased, such party thereafter freely
cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(5) Either party was physically incapable of consummating
the marriage with the other, and such incapacity continues
or appears to be incurable; and


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(6) Either party was afflicted with a sexually transmissible
infection found to be serious or appears to be incurable.
Provided, That, the grounds mentioned in numbers 2, 5, and 6 existed 
either at the time of the marriage or supervening after the marriage; 
(c) When the spouses have been separated in fact for at least five (5)
years at the time the petition for absolute divorce is filed, and
reconciliation is highly improbable;
(d) Psychological incapacity of either spouse as provided for in
Article 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines, whether or not
the incapacity was present at the time of the celebration of the
marriage or later;
(e) When one of the spouses undergoes a gender reassignment
surgery or transitions from one sex to another, the other spouse
is entitled to petition for absolute divorce with the transgender
or transsexual as respondent, or vice versa; and
(f) Irreconcilable marital differences and conflicts which have
resulted in the total breakdown of the marriage beyond repair,
despite earnest and repeated efforts at reconciliation, shall entitle
either spouse or both spouses to petition for absolute divorce.
SEC. 6.  Prescription of Action. – A petition for absolute divorce and 
dissolution of marriage shall be filed with the proper court by the 
interested party or parties within five (5) years from the accrual of the 
cause of action. 
SEC. 7.  Procedure for Obtaining Absolute Divorce. – 


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(a) The established and recognized procedures for securing legal
separation, annulment of marriage and voiding of a marriage
under the Family Code of the Philippines, as far as practicable,
shall govern the process of obtaining a judicial decree of absolute
divorce from the proper family court which shall be commenced
by the petitioner or joint petitioners filing a verified petition for
absolute divorce.
(b) The factors and grounds which militate against the grant of legal
separation and annulment and nullification of marriages as
provided for in the Family Code of the Philippines shall likewise
be assessed, based on competent and credible proof, against the
grant of absolute divorce.
(c) Upon application of a court-assisted petitioner or petitioners, the
proper court shall waive the payment of filing fees and other
costs of litigation, and shall appoint a counsel de oficio for court-
assisted petitioner or petitioners and assign social workers,
psychologists, and psychiatrists, preferably from appropriate
government agencies, to assist the said petitioner and the court.
(d) A petition for absolute divorce may be filed jointly by the
spouses on the grounds of de facto separation for five (5) years,
legally separated by judicial declaration for at least two (2) years
or irreconcilable differences or other grounds for absolute
divorce provided for in this Act.
A joint petition filed by both spouses with common children should 
be accompanied by a joint plan for parenthood which provides for the 


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support, parental authority, custody, and living arrangements of the 
common children.  
If the court determines that the joint plan for parenthood is 
adequate to protect the rights and interests of the common children, the 
court shall approve the joint plan for parenthood together with the grant 
of a divorce decree if warranted. 
The court shall ensure the enforcement of the joint plan for 
parenthood and may require the spouses to submit periodic reports on its 
implementation subject to the validation of a court’s social worker or by 
the local social welfare officer. 
(e) All creditors of the absolute community or of the conjugal
partnership of gains, as well as the personal creditors of the
spouses, shall be listed in the petition for absolute divorce and
notified of the filing thereof. The court shall take measures to
protect the creditors and other persons with pecuniary interest.
(f) No decree of absolute divorce shall be based upon a stipulation
of facts or a confession of judgment.
(g) The Office of the Public Prosecutor in provinces, cities and
capital towns is authorized and obligated to conduct
investigations to find out whether or not there is collusion
between the spouses in a petition for absolute divorce and shall
report its findings to the proper court within six (6) months from
the filing of the petition.
(h) Parties with pending cases in court for annulment of marriage
under Article 45, or legal separation under Article 55, or
nullification of marriage under Article 35 of the Family Code of
the Philippines shall be allowed to amend and convert their


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respective petitions to one for absolute divorce or dissolution of 
marriage. 
SEC. 8. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). – Petitioners who are 
OFWs shall be given priority by the proper court with respect to the 
hearing of their petitions and the court shall set the reception of evidence, 
upon the availability of the petitioners, for not more than two (2) 
consecutive days. 
SEC. 9. Summary Judicial Proceedings. – The following grounds for 
absolute divorce may be subject to summary judicial proceeding as 
defined in Section 4(w) of this Act: 
(a) When the spouses have been separated de facto for at least five
(5) years;
(b) When one of the spouses has contracted a bigamous marriage;
(c) When the spouses have been legally separated by judicial decree
for two (2) years or more;
(d) When one of the spouses has been sentenced to imprisonment
for six (6) years, even if subsequently pardoned;
(e) When one of the spouses has undergone a sex reassignment
surgery or has transitioned into another sex; and
(f) When both spouses have filed a joint petition for the dissolution
of their marriage before the proper family court based on any of
the grounds provided for this Act.
SEC. 10. Mandatory Six (6)-Month Cooling-off Period. – Except for 
grounds under summary judicial proceedings, under letters (a) to (e) in 


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the proceeding Section 9, the proper court shall not start the trial of a 
petition for absolute divorce before the expiration of a six (6)-month 
cooling-off period after the filing of the petition during which the court 
shall exercise all efforts to reunite and reconcile the parties and the court 
shall await the submission of the report of the Office of the Public 
Prosecutor as provided for under Section 7(g).  
The requirement of a cooling-off period shall not apply in cases 
which involve acts of violence against women and their children under 
Republic Act No. 9262, otherwise known as the “Anti-Violence Against 
Women and Their Children Act of 2004” or attempt against the life of the 
other spouse or a common child or a child of the petitioner. 
SEC. 11. Effects of Absolute Divorce. – The decree of absolute 
divorce shall have the following effects: 
(a) The marriage bonds shall be severed and the divorced spouses
shall have the right to contract marriage again, either by civil or
religious ceremony;
(b) The custody of the minor children shall be decided by the proper
court in accordance with the best interests of the children, subject
to the provisions of Article 213 of the Family Code of the
Philippines, taking into primary consideration that no child
under seven (7) years of age shall be separated from the mother,
unless the proper court finds compelling reasons to order
otherwise;
(c) The conjugal partnership of gains or the absolute community
shall be dissolved and liquidated and the assets shall be equally
divided between the spouses excluding paraphernal or exclusive


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properties of either spouse. The recognition and delivery of the 
presumptive legitime of the common children shall be at the 
option of both spouses. The presumptive legitime shall be 
computed as of the date of the finality of the decree of absolute 
divorce. The partition and distribution of the properties of the 
spouses and the delivery of the children’s presumptive legitime 
upon the option of the spouses shall be recorded in the 
appropriate civil registry and registries of property; otherwise, 
the same shall not affect third persons; 
(d) In addition to the equal share in the assets of the absolute
community or conjugal partnership, the petitioner who is not
gainfully employed shall be entitled to support from the
respondent until the petitioner finds adequate employment:
Provided, that the support shall not exceed three (3) years from
the finality of the decree of absolute divorce: Provided, further,
that the right to support shall be subject to the provisions of
Article 201 of the Family Code of the Philippines where the
amount of support shall be in proportion to the resources or
means of the giver and to the necessities of the recipient;
(e) The proper court shall have the discretion to grant alimony, child
support and child custody pursuant to the pertinent provisions
of the Family Code of the Philippines, and impose contempt of
court against the defaulting parties. The petitioner may opt for a
one-time or on a monthly basis alimony. The necessity of
alimony and the amount shall be determined by the court, taking
into consideration all relevant factors;
(f) The petitioner may revoke the donations made in favor of the


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respondent, as well as the designation of the latter as a 
beneficiary in any insurance policy, even if such designation be 
stipulated as irrevocable. The revocation of the donations shall 
be recorded in the registries of properties in the places where the 
properties are located. Alienations, liens and encumbrances 
registered in good faith before the recording of the complaint for 
revocation in the registry of property shall be respected. The 
revocation of or a change in the designation of the insurance 
beneficiary shall take effect upon written notification thereof to 
the insured. 
The action to revoke the donation under this provision must be 
brought within five (5) years from the time the decree of absolute divorce 
has become final; 
(g) The effects on the divorced spouses with respect to intestate
succession, testamentary dispositions, donations, and insurance
provisions on beneficiaries in accordance with the Family Code
of the Philippines and jurisprudence will be observed; and
(h) The legitimate and adopted children of divorced parents shall
retain their legal status and legitimacy. A child conceived or
born within three hundred (300) days after the filing of a petition
for absolute divorce shall be considered legitimate, unless the
ground for divorce is the marital infidelity of the wife.
SEC. 12. Recognition of Reconciliation. – 
(a) If the petitioners have agreed to reconcile, a corresponding joint


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manifestation under oath duly signed by them shall be filed with 
the same court where the petition for absolute divorce was filed 
with the interests of the children duly protected.  
(b) The plan to reconcile shall have the following consequences:
(1) The absolute divorce proceedings, if still pending, shall be
terminated at whatever stage; and
(2) The final decree of absolute divorce shall be set aside, but
the separation of property and any forfeiture of the share
of the respondent already effected shall subsist, unless the
spouses agree to revive their former property regime.
(3) The court order containing the foregoing shall be recorded in
      the  proper civil registries. 
(c) The agreement to revive the former property regime referred to
in this Act shall be executed under oath and shall specify:
(1) The properties to be contributed anew to the restored regime;
(2) Those to be retained as separate properties of each spouse;
and
(3) The names of all their known creditors, their addresses and
the amounts owing to each.
The agreement of revival and the motion for its approval shall be 
filed with the court in the same proceeding for absolute divorce, with 
copies of both furnished to the creditors named therein. After due 
hearing, the court shall be recorded in the proper registries of properties. 
The recording of the order in the registries of properties shall not 
prejudice any creditor not listed or not notified. 


Page 17 of 18 
SEC. 13. Finality of Decision or Decree. – Except for decisions or 
decrees in summary proceedings which shall be immediately executory, 
all other decisions or decrees on absolute divorce or dissolution of 
marriage shall be final and executory after fifteen (15) days from the 
receipt by the concerned party or parties of the principal decision or 
decree or the resolution denying a motion for reconsideration which is 
filed within the fifteen (15)-day reglementary period, except when an 
appeal to the Court of Appeals is filed before the decision or decree 
becomes final. 
SEC. 14. Penalty. – A spouse who is a party to a petition for absolute 
divorce who is found by the court to have used threats or coercion to 
compel the other spouse in filing the petition, and spouses who are guilty 
of collusion, shall be punished with imprisonment of five (5) years and a 
fine of Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00). 
Any parent in default of providing the required child support under 
this Act shall be imposed stiff fines and contempt of court. 
SEC. 15. Options and Remedies. – The concerned spouse or spouses 
shall have the option to file a petition for absolute divorce under this Act 
or avail of legal separation, annulment or nullification of marriage as 
provided for in the Family Code of the Philippines. 
SEC. 16. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). – The 
Department of Justice (DOJ) as lead agency, together with the Department 
of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Philippine Commission 
on Women (PCW), the National Youth Commission (NYC), and at least 


Page 18 of 18 
two (2) representatives from women’s organizations to be appointed by 
the PWC in consultation with civil society and women’s organizations 
shall promulgate the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) within 
sixty (60) days after the effectivity of this Act. 
SEC. 17. Separability Clause. – If any part or provision of this Act 
is held unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected hereby shall 
remain in force and effect. 
SEC. 18. Repealing Clause. – All laws, executive orders, issuances, 
decrees, rules and regulations inconsistent with or contrary to the 
provisions of this Act are deemed amended, modified or repealed 
accordingly. 
SEC. 19. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after 
its publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general 
circulation. 
Approved,