Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 210

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RENEE LOUISE M. CO

AN ACT
REINTRODUCING DIVORCE IN THE PHILIPPINES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Underpinning this proposal is a commitment to the policy of the State to protect and
strengthen marriage and family as basic social institutions, to value the dignity of every
human person, to guarantee full respect for human rights. and to ensure fundamental
equality before the law of women and men.

In Filipino culture, marriage is regarded as a sacred union, and the family founded
on marriage is considered a fountain of love, protection, and care. Philippine society
generally frowns upon and discourages marital break-ups and provides cultural and legal
safeguards to preserve marital relations. Cultural prescriptions and religious norms keep
many couples together despite the breakdown of the marriage. However, the cultural
prescriptions for women and men differ. Women are traditionally regarded as primarily
responsible for making the marriage work and are expected to sacrifice everything to
preserve the marriage and the solidarity of the family. While wives demand absolute
fidelity, men are granted sexual licenses to have affairs outside their marriage. Yet when
the marriage fails, the woman is blamed for its failure.

Reality tells us that many failed, unhappy marriages are across all Filipino classes.
Many couples, especially from the marginalized sectors, who have no access to the courts,
simply end up separating without the benefit of legal processes. The number of petitions
filed since 1988 for the declaration of the nullity of marriage under Article 36 of the Family
Code shows that there are just too many couples who are desperate to get out of failed
marriages.

Even when couples start well in their marriage, political, economic, and social
realities take their toll on their relationship. Some are not prepared to handle the intricacies
of married life. For many women, the inequalities and violence in marriage negate its ideals
as the embodiment of love, care, and safety, and erode the bascs upon which a marriage is
founded. Marital relations facilitate the commission of violence and perpetuate their


oppression. Official figures show that 14.4% of married women experience physical
violence, and 23% experience emotional violence, from their husbands. According to the
Philippine National Police, within the context of rising VAW incidence from 2004 to 2012,
physical injuries account for 21%.

Since the ratification of the Constitution in 1987, many things beyond the control
of spouses have happened to our society that put tremendous pressure on Filipino families’
stability. Our government has intensified its labor expert program, tearing hundreds of
thousands of families apart and forcing couples to make do with long-distance
relationships, aggravating their vulnerabilities to marital indiscretions and resulting in
rising incidences of Overseas Filipino Workers seeking to annul or nullify their marriages.
Moreover, as a result of one economic crisis after another, with endless increases in the
prices of basic commodities and attended by the government's abandonment of the State's
responsibility to provide essential social services, husbands and wives are both forced to
work multiple odd jobs and do extra labor hours to augment their devalued income. This
reduces the quality time necessary to nourish family relationships. The interconnectivity
brought about by advances in modern transportation and information technology has also
increased the number of mixed foreign marriages among Filipinos, exposing them to alien
family cultures that often grate against their marriages.

‘These social forces constitute a veritable assault on the Filipino family, driving up
the number of couples wanting to escape their troubled marriages other than those already
provided by our marriage laws. According to the Department of Justice, petitions for nullity
and annulment have more than doubled in the last ten years, from 4,520 in 2001 to 10,528
in 2011. Looking at the 2011 figure, this means 29.6 petitions a day. Interestingly, the figure
refers only to annulment and declaration of nullity of cases invoking the grounds for
psychological incapacity and inherent defects in the validity of the marriage. It does not
include legal separation and annulment based on other grounds such as presumptive death
(read: abandonment). It also does not include marital dissolution cases based on petitions
for judicial recognition of divorce decrees obtained in foreign forums, which constitute
47% of the total marital dissolution cases handled by our courts, suggesting a growing
number of aggrieved parties who use foreign judicial systems to skirt around the absence
of divorce law in the country.

Given these realities, couples must have the option to avail of remedies that will
pave the way for attaining their full human development and self-fulfillment and protecting
their human rights. Existing laws are not enough to guarantee and protect these rights.
quote the Women's Legal Bureau, Inc., a legal resource NGO for women:

‘The present laws relating to separation of couples and termination of
marriage are inadequate to respond to the myriad causes of failed
marriages. Particularly, the remedies of declaration of nullity and
annulment do not cover the problems that occur during the existence of
marriage. Legal separation, on the other hand, while covering problems
during marriage, does not put an end to marriage '

"Though divorce and a declaration of nullity of marriage allow the spouses
to remarry, the two remedies differ in concept and basis. A declaration of


nullity presupposes that the marriage is void from the beginning, and the
court declares its non-existence... Beyond [the] grounds specified [in the
Jaw], declaration of nullity is not possible."

‘In an annulment, the marriage of the parties is declared defective from the
beginning, albeit it is considered valid until annulled. The defect can be used
to nullify the marriage within a specified period but the same may be ignored
and the marriage becomes perfectly valid after the lapse of that period, or
the defect may be cured through some act. The defect relates to the time of
the celebration of the marriage and has nothing to do with circumstances
occurring after the marriage is celebrated. In annulment, the marriage is
legally cancelled, and the man and woman are restored to their single
status.’

‘Since August 3, 1988, couples have been given away out of failed marriages
through Article 36... The remedy provided under Article 36 is declaration of
nullity of the marriage. The article voids a marriage where one party is
‘psychologically incapacitated’ to comply with the essentials of marital
obligations. Consistent with the concept of void marriages (where the
remedy is declaration of nullity), the law requires that the incapacity must
have existed at the time of the celebration of the marriage...In practice,
Article 36 has become a form of divorce, as valid marriages are declared
void every day in the guise of 'psychological incapacity. The innumerable
Article 36 cases brought to trial courts are an indication of the elasticity of
Article 36 to accommodate the needs of many couples desiring to terminate
their marriages. It is proof that divorce is needed in the Philippines. Article
36 provides a remedy only for spouses who can prove ‘psychological
incapacity. The concept certainly cannot accommodate all cases where
divorce would be necessary. What we need is a divorce law that defines
clearly and unequivocally the grounds and terms for terminating a marriage.

That law will put an end to the creative efforts played daily in courtrooms
across the country to accommodate a wide range of cases in order to prove
‘psychological incapacity’ (Women's Legal Bureau, The Relevance of
Divorce in the Philippines, 1998).

Thus, this bill seeks to introduce divorce as another option for couples in failed and
irreparable marriages.

Historically, divorce had been part of our legal system. At the beginning of the 16th
century, before the Spanish colonial rule, absolute divorce was widely practiced among
ancestral tribes such as the Tagbanwas of Palawan, the Gadangs of Nueva Vizcaya, the
Sagadas and Igorots of the Cordilleras, and the Manobos, B'laans and Moslems of the
Visayas and Mindanao islands. Divorce was also available during the American period,
starting from 1917 (under Act No. 2710 enacted by the Philippine Legislature), during the
Japanese occupation (under Executive Order No. 141), and until 1950. Only on August 30,
1950, when the New Civil Code took effect, that divorce was disallowed under Philippine
law. Only legal separation was available. The same rule was adopted by the Family Code
of 1988, which replaced the provisions of the New Civil Code on marriage and the family.


However, the Family Code introduced the concept of psychological incapacity as a basis
for declaring the marriage void.

In recognition of the history of divorce in the Philippines, the framers of the 1987
Constitution left the wisdom of legalizing divorce to Congress. Thus, the 1987 Constitution
does not prohibit the legalization of divorce.

Given the country’s history, the bill seeks to restore divorce as a rights-based option
for the majority of Filipinos, an option based on the recognition that the right to enter into
a marriage contract has the corresponding spousal right to end such contract when it has
reached the point of irreparability. The filing of this bill is anchored on a strong sense of
confidence that it will be used responsibly by Filipino couples. This confidence stems from
the experiences of Filipino families that show that separation is usually the last resort of
many Filipino couples whose marriage has failed. Cases of battered women also support
this. Battered women seek separation only after so many years of trying to make the
marriage work; separation only becomes imperative for them when they realize it is
necessary for their and their children's survival. Divorce could protect battered women and
their children from further violence and abuse. With the predominance of the Catholic faith
in the Philippines, the fear that divorce will erode personal values on marriage appears
unfounded. The experiences of Italy, where the Vatican is located, and Spain, two
predominantly Catholic countries which practice divorce, support this. Historically. those
countries have a low rate of divorce. Italy has a divorce rate of 181 per 1000 married
population, while the divorce rate in Spain has experienced a decline since 2007.

This bill is respectful of and sensitive to differing religious belief’ in the Philippines.
It recognizes that the plurality of religious beliefs and cultural sensibilities in the
Philippines demand that different remedies for failed marriages be made available. For this
reason, the bill retains the existing remedies of legal separation. annulment, and declaration
of nullity of the marriage, and only adds divorce as one more remedy. Couples may choose
from these remedies depending on their situation, religious beliefs, cultural sensibilities,
needs, and emotional state. While divorce under this proposed measure severs the bond of
marriage, divorce as a remedy need not be for the purpose of remarriage; it may be resorted
to by individuals to achieve peace of mind and facilitate their pursuit of full human
development.

This bill also seeks to make Philippine law consistent with how it treats religious
beliefs concerning the termination of marriage. Philippine law, through the Code of Muslim
Personal Laws of the Philippines (Presidential Decree 1983 [1977], allows divorce among
Filipino Muslims, in deference to the Islamic faith that recognizes divorce. Non-Muslim
Filipinos should have the same option under Philippine law. in accordance with their
religious beliefs.

This bill, originally filed in 2005 during the 13" Congress, was crafted in
consultation with women lawyers and informed by studies and contributions from various
women’s groups, pro-divorce advocates, many of whom organized through social media,
and the lived experiences of spouses collected by GABRIELA and the Gabriela Women’s
Party from their chapters across the country. The bill was refiled in the 14", 15", 16", 17",
and 18" Congresses.


In the 17 Congress, extensive deliberations on several proposed versions led to a
consolidated bill, which was successfully passed on Third Reading in the House of
Representatives but did not progress in the Senate. In the 18% Congress, the bill was
approved on First Reading in August 2021. Most recently, during the 19" Congress, the
bill again passed on Third Reading in the House of Representatives.

This bill reflects the consolidated version with some additions, such as the
recognition of a divorce decree obtained abroad and additional grounds for annulment,
which can also be considered grounds for obtaining a divorce decree. The following are
the proposed grounds for granting a judicial decree of divorce, premised on the irreparable
breakdown of the marriage and the total non-performance of marital obligations:

1. The existing grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code of
the Philippines, modified to include, among others: serious physical or sexual
violence to highlight not just the number of times the violence was inflicted, but the
severity or gravity of violence committed; chronic gambling; and bisexuality:

2. When the spouses are legally separated by judicial decree for more than two (2)
years;

3. Grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code of the
Philippines, which are restated as follows:

1. That 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 cohabited
with the other and both lived together as husband and wife;

2. That either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to
reason, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;

3. That 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. That 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 wite;

5. That either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage
with the other, and such incapacity continues or appears to be incurable;

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 may either be
existing at the time of the marriage or supervening after the marriage;

4, 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;


5. Psychological incapacity of either spouse;

6. When one of the spouses undergoes gender reassignment surgery or transitions
from one sex to another;

7. Inreconcilable marital differences and conflicts which have resulted in the total
breakdown of the marriage beyond repair, despite earnest and repeated efforts at
reconciliation;

8. When a decree of divorce has been validly obtained abroad, the same shall be
recognized in this country after a determination by a Philippine court that the
divorce was based among the grounds for granting absolute divorce in the
Philippines.

Not all circumstances and situations that cause the breakdown of a marriage could
be defined in this proposed measure. Thus, the bill also provides that divorce may be
granted when the spouses suffer irreconcilable differences that have caused the irreparable
breakdown of the marriage. Spouses living in a state of irreparable marital conflict should
be given the opportunity to present their differences and have those adjudged as constituting
a substantial ground to put an end to the marriage.

Under the proposed measure, a decree of divorce dissolves the absolute community
or conjugal partnership of gains. The assets shall be equally divided between the spouses.
However, this bill also proposes that in addition to his or her equal share in the assets, the
spouse who is not gainfully employed shall be entitled to support until he or she finds
adequate employment, Still, the right shall only be effective for not more than two (2) years,
ot until the spouse who is receiving spousal support remarries. This provision is meant to
address the economic deprivation or poverty many women experience due to marital
breakup.

The bill also proposes that the court shall decide the custody of any minor child
based on the child's best interests and their support provided in accordance with the Family
Court provisions on support. Additionally, actual, moral, and exemplary damages shall be
awarded to the aggrieved spouse when appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of
the Civil Code of the Philippines on damages.

The Philippines is the only remaining country in the world without a divorce law.
The sanctity of marriage is not based on the number of marriages existing but on the quality
of marital relationships. When marriage is no longer viable, divorce should be an option.
This bill is being introduced based on indications that the Philippine society is ready for
the legalization of divorce.


For the foregoing reasons, the passage of this bill is sought.

ep. ANTONIO L. TINIO Rep. RENEE LOUISE M. CO
ACT Teachers Party-List KABATAAN Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 210

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RENEE LOUISE M. CO

AN ACT
REINTRODUCING DIVORCE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Absolute Divorce
Act™,

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 as an alternative mode for the dissolution of an irreparably broken or
dysfunctional marriage under limited grounds and well-defined judicial procedures;
save the children from the pain, stress, and agony consequent to their parents’ constant
marital clashes or irreconcilable separation; and grant the divorced spouses the right to
marry again for another chance to achieve marital bliss.

SECTION 3. Guiding Principles. - The following shall be the guiding
principles of this Act:

1. Absolute divorce shall be judicially decreed after the fact of an
irremediably broken marriage.

2. The State shall assure that the court proceedings for the grant of absolute
divorce shall be affordable, expeditious, and inexpensive.

3. 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 (EO) No. 209. otherwise known as the
Family Code of the Philippines (the Family Code).


4. 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.

5. A six-month cooling-off period is instituted after the filing of a petition
for absolute divorce as a final attempt for reconciliation of concerned spouses.

6. A divorce decree shall include provisions for the care and custody of
children, protection of their legitimes, termination and liquidation of the conjugal
partnership of gains or the absolute community, and alimony for the aggrieved or
innocent spouse.

7. Even as absolute divorce is reinstituted, the State has the mandate of
strengthening marriage and family life by undertaking. among others, relevant
prenuptial and post-matrimonial programs and activities adequately funded by the
government.

SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

a) Abandonment refers to the act of a spouse of leaving 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. The abandonment may also be physical estrangement, or financial
desertion;

b) Absolute divorce refers to the judicial dissolution of a marriage or the
termination of the bond of matrimony where the spouses return to their status of being
single with the right to contract marriage again;

©) Alcoholism refers to excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages at a
level that interferes with physical or mental health, and social, family, or occupational
responsibilities;

d) Alimony refers to spousal support made under court order to a divorced
person by the former spouse;

)  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;

1) 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;

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
financial support for raising and sheltering a child or children by the other parent who
has the means to pay for the expenses associated with child support. The proper court
shall determine the payments, based on the income level of the parent giving support
and the needs of the child or children requiring support;

i) Chronic gambling refers to a disorder of impulse control in which a
person makes habitual waging in games of chance which compromise, disrupt or
damage family, work and social relations, and vocational pursuits;

i) Competent court refers to the proper family court established under
Republic Act (RA) No. 8369 or the “Family Courts Act of 1997”, which shall exercise
jurisdiction both over the absolute divorce proceeding and the persons of the petitioner
and respondent spouses:

k)  Court-assisted petitioner refers to a petitioner-spouse who has personal
or real properties not exceeding two million five hundred thousand pesos
(PhP2,500,000.00);

1) Domestic or marital abuse refers to violence or aggressive behavior
within the home, typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse by the other which
may be committed through:

(1) physical violence,

(2) psychological and emotional violence,

(3) sexual violence, or

(4) economic abuse;

m) Drug addiction refers to habitual dependence on a prohibited drug or
drugs;

n) _Insanity refers to a neurologic or psychiatric condition characterized by
the existence of a recognizable, clinically-significant disturbance in an individual's
cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior that reflects a genetic or acquired
dysfunction in the neurological, psychosocial, or developmental process underlying
mental functioning;

0) Irreconcilable differences refer to the substantial incompatibility of the
spouses due to their intransigence or fault by holding on to divergent and divisive
behavior resulting to the total breakdown of their marriage which could not be repaired
despite earnest efforts to reconcile;

p) Legitime refers to the portion of a parent's estate from which they cannot
disinherit the children, without sufficient legal cause;

q) Marital infidelity refers to the extramarital sexual relations of a spouse:


1) Overseas Filipinos refer to Filipino migrant workers, other Filipino nationals
and their dependents abroad or as defined under Section 3 of Republic Act (RA) No.
8042, as amended, otherwise known as the “Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos
Act of 1995”;

s) Psychological incapacity refers to the condition provided for in Article 36 of
the Family Code which warrants the nullity of a marriage;

1) Summary judicial proceedings refer to an expeditious manner of resolving a
petition for absolute 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;

SECTION S. Grounds for Absolute Divorce. - The following are the grounds
for a judicial decree of absolute divorce:

a) The grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code of
the Philippines, modified or amended, as follows:

(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 or bisexuality of the respondent;

(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;

(10) Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for
more than one (1) year;

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
cohabited 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:

(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 supervenes after the marriage:

©) _ Psychological incapacity of either spouse as provided for in Article 36 of
the Family Code of the Philippines, whether or not the incapacity existed at the time of
the marriage or supervenes afier the marriage;

d) When the spouses are legally separated by judicial decree for more than
. either spouse can petition the proper court for an absolute divorce based
on said judicial decree of legal separation;

e) 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;

f) When a foreign spouse disappears, and, despite efforts of the the Filipino
spouse, cannot be located or communicated with, for at least four (4) years;

g) Irreconcilable marital differences as defined under Section 4.0.

h) Other forms of domestic or marital abuse as defined under Section 4.1.

The grant of absolute divorce based on domestic or marital abuse or violation of
RA No. 9262, otherwise known as the "Anti-Violence Against Women and Their

Children Act of 2004", shall be without prejudice to the prosecution of the errant spouse
under the said Act.


i) When a valid foreign divorce has been secured by either the alien or
Filipino spouse.

j) When a marriage is nullified or dissolved by the proper canonical tribunal
of the Roman Catholic Church or any other recognized religious sect or denomination
which may have their own ecclesiastical tribunal, the said nullified or dissolved
marriage shall constitute a ground for divorce or shall have the effect of a divorce under
this Act, without going through the judicial process, when it is authenticated by the
proper authorities of the Roman Catholic Church or any other recognized religious sect
or denomination, and registered with the proper civil registrar in the Philippines.

SECTION 6. Procedure for Obtaining Absolute Divorce. — (a) The established
and recognized procedures for securing legal separation, annulment and declaration of
nullity of marriage under the Family Code, as far as practicable, and not in conflict with
this Act, shall govern the process of obtaining a judicial decree of absolute divorce from
the proper family court.

(b) The procedure shall commence by the filing of a verified petition for absolute
divorce. Both spouses may file a verified joint petition for absolute divorce under
Sections 5 d), e), i) and j) of this Act. The petitioner may also file for a court-assisted
petition under Section 7 of this Act.

(c) 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.

(d) The factors and grounds which militate against the grant of legal separation
and the annulment and nullity of marriages as provided for in the Family Code shall
likewise be assessed, based on competent and credible proof, against the grant of
absolute divorce.

(e) No decree of absolute divorce shall be based upon a stipulation of facts or a
confession of judgment.

(f) The procedure for obtaining absolute divorce shall not exceed 1 (one) year
from the date of filing of the verified petition.

SECTION 7. Application for a Court-assisted Petition. Petitioner may apply for
a court-assisted petition in obtaining absolute divorce. Upon application of a court-
assisted petition, the proper court shall waive the payment of all forms of filing fees and
other costs of litigation and appoint a counsel de oficio in favor of court-assisted
petitioner or petitioners and shall assign such number of social workers. psychologists,
and psychiatrist as may be necessary from a pool of accredited social workers and
practitioners recognized by the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), to assist the petitioner or petitioners,
free of charge.



SECTION 8. Overseas Filipinos. - Petitioners who are Overseas Filipinos 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.

SECTION 9. Summary Judicial Proceedings. - The following grounds for
absolute divorce may be subject to summary judicial proceedings as defined in Section
4

(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 marti

(c) When the spouses have been legally separated by judicial decree for at
east two (2) years;

(d) When one of the spouses has been sentenced to imprisonment for six (6)
years, even if subsequently pardoned; and

(e) When one of the spouses has undergone a sex reassignment surgery or
has transitioned into another sex.

SECTION 10. Mandatory Six-Month Cooling-Off Period. — Except for grounds
under summary judicial proceedings, the proper court shall not start the trial of a petition
for absolute divorce before the expiration of a six-month cooling-off period after the
filing of the petition during which the court shall exercise all efforts to reunite and
reconcile the parties.

‘The requirement of a cooling-off period shall not apply in cases which involve
acts of violence against women and their children under RA 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, a common child, or a child of the petitioner.

SECTION 10. Waiver of Expert Testimony. — Expert testimony shall be
dispensed with unless the court decides that such testimony is indispensable in deciding
the petition for absolute divorce.

SECTION 11. Effects of Absolute Divorce. ~ The decree of absolute divorce
shall have the following effects:

a) The marriage bond shall be severed and the divorced spouses shal! have
the right to contract marriage again;

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;

©) 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 the paraphernal or exclusive properties of either spouse. The recognition and



delivery of the presumptive legitime to the common children shall be ordered by the
court, taking into consideration the interests of the children and the protection of their
legitime from dissipation. 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 shall
be recorded in the appropriate civil registry and registry of deeds, otherwise the same
shall not affect third persons;

4) For petitions granted under Section 5 (¢) of this Act, the properties
acquired by either spouse from the start of the spouses” separation in fact shall not be
considered as part of their conjugal partnership of gains or absolute community;

e) In addition to the equal share in the net assets of the absolute community
or conjugal partnership, the petitioner who is not gainfully employed shall be entitled
to spousal support or alimony from the respondent until the petitioner finds adequate
employment: Provided, that the support shall not exceed two (2) years from the finality
of the decree of absolute divorce, or shall cease upon the petitioner's remarriage;
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 obligor and to the necessities of the obligee;

i) The proper court shall have the discretion to grant spousal support or
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 necessity of alimony and the amount shall be determined by the court
taking into consideration all relevant factors;

g) The petitioner may revoke the donations made in favor of the 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 of 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;

h) 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

i) 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.

SECTION 12. Award for Damages. - The proper court may, as warranted by
evidence, award actual, moral, and exemplary damages as provided for under the New
Civil Code to the innocent spouse against the errant spouse.

SECTION 13. Conversion of Pending Petitions. - Parties who have pending
petitions under Articles 36, 45, and 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines may
convert their petitions to an action for absolute divorce under this Act without paying
filing fees.

SECTION 14. Recognition of Reconciliation. - If the spouses have agrced to
reconcile at any stage of the proceedings but before finality of judgment, a
corresponding joint 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. The plan to reconcile shall terminate the absolute divorce
proceedings.

The recognition of reconciliation shall not apply in cases which involve acts of
violence against women and their children under RA 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, a common child, or a child of the petitioner.

SECTION 15. 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 shall be punished with imprisonment of five (5) years and
a fine of two hundred thousand pesos (PhP200,000.00).

Any parent in default of providing the required child support under this Act shall
be charged be considered in contempt of court and shall be imposed a fine of:

(a) _ Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) for the first default,

(b) One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) for the second default, and

(c) _ Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00) each for the third and the

succeeding defaults.

SECTION 16. Options and Remedies. - The concerned spouse shall have the
option to file a petition for dissolution of marriage, annulment of marriage, or legal
separation under Articles 36, 45, and 55, respectively, of the Family Code of the
Philippines.

SECTION 17. Community-based Pre-nuptial and Post-matrimonial Programs
and Activities. - The National Government, through the DSWD, shall fund the
implementation of community-based pre-nuptial, reconciliatory phase or cooling-off
counseling, and post-matrimonial programs and activities aimed at strengthening the
marital and family life of Filipinos.


These social welfare interventi the stability of Filipino
Families, which will protect the stability of Filipino Families, will be instituted by
DSWD, in provinces, cities, and clusters of municipalities in the entire country, while
observing the local cultures and customs that are prevalent in each locality.

SECTION 18. Community-Based Women’s Desk. - The frontline desk in every
barangay established under RA No. 9710, or the “Magna Carta of Women,” shall be
readily available and easily accessible to provide support and assistance to victims,
especially women, of all forms of abuse and acts of violence identified under this Act
and those provided under RA No. 9262, or the “Anti-Violence Against Women and
Their Children Act of 2004”.

SECTION 19. Appropriations. The amount necessary for the initial
implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of
the DSWD and the DOJ. Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for the
implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 20. /mplementing Rules and Regulations. ~ The DSWD as the lead
agency, together with the DOJ, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), the
National Youth Commission (NYC), and at least two (2) representatives from women’s
organizations, to be appointed by the PCW 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.

SECTION 21. Separability Clause. - If any part or provision of this Act is held
invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in
force and effect.

SECTION 22. 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.

SECTION 23. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,