NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session 
)
*22 JUL-7 P6:03
SENATE
s.B. No. 237
RECEIVLD EV
O
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR ROBINHOOD PADILLA
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The 1987 Constitution guarantees the recognition of the sanctity of family life 
and endeavors the protection of the family as a basic autonomous soda! institution 
(Article II, Section 12). By definition, a family constitutes the relations between 
husband and wife, parent and child, among other ascendants and their descendants, 
and brothers and sisters. The U.N. Human Rights Committee also declares the 
importance of acknowledging the various forms of family Including unmarried couples 
and their children and single parents and their children.1
Hence, in implementing the policy of the State to recognize the sanctity of 
family life, it must be duty-bound to promote and strengthen the well-being of its 
members. This duty should extend to cases of irremediably failed marriages that bring 
sorrow, pain, and other detrimental effects to families.
This bill rests upon the view that the dissolution of marriages marred by
unhpairhv phii«;i\/p pnri pvpn iinhpnnv rplaUnn*; will nrnt-prt fhp wpll-hpinn nf fpmjlv
members, especially of the children bearing the misery of the troubled marriage. This 
legal recourse is demanded when there is a dearth of love, respect, and support 
between married couples without sacrificing the very essence and spirit of a family.
1 UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), CCPR General Comment No. 28: Article 3 (The Equality of Rights 
Between Men and Women), 29 March 2000, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10, available at: 
https://www.refworld.org/docid/45139c9b4.html [accessed 2 July 2022]


The continuous lack of legislation for the dissolution of marriage in the country 
traps individuals in a supposed union that has long been destroyed and can at times 
be abusive especially to women, as well as expose the children to a prolonged and 
constant marital clash affecting their overall well-being. The dissolution of unions is 
also unlikely to slow down with annulment and nullity cases averaging over 10,000 
from 2013 to 2017.2
To date, the Philippines stands solitary in the world, aside from Vatican City, as 
the only country where divorce is not legal. Meanwhile, a growing number of our 
population is becoming more receptive to the legalization of divorce, with an average 
of 53% of adult Filipinos responding positively to its application for Irreconcilably 
separated couples based on a 2017 survey.3
The growing acceptance of divorce helps in reducing the stigma and opens the 
discourse on how we can redress an otherwise irreparable marriage to the best 
interest of the family. It also upholds the policy of the State to promote and protect 
the well-being of its citizens.
In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill Is earnestly sought.
ROBINHOOD PADILLA
2 Office of Solicitor General. “Number of Annulment and Nullity Cases filed for the last 10 Years. ” Retrieved from 
https://www.osg.gov.ph/documents/open-data/mrcwithdecisions.pdf
3 Social Weather Stations (9 March 2018). Retrieved from the 
http://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20180309165548


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NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
S.B. No. 237
Senate
72 JUL -7 P6 *03
PKZ':':- Z Ct
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR ROBINHOOD PADILLA
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
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 "Divorce Act of the 
Philippines".
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes the sanctity of 
family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social 
institution and uphold the inviolability of marriage as a social institution. It is also the 
policy of the State to ensure the performance of the essential marital obligations 
between husband and wife and when one or both of the spouses has no capacity to 
perform such obligations, the State allows the dissolution of the marriage to protect 
the spouses and family.
Section 3. Interpretation. - This Act shall be applied and interpreted in favor 
of the protection and strengthening of the family.
Section. 4. Dissolution of Marriage. - A husband or a wife shall have a 
right to file a petition to dissolve a marriage on the grounds provided in this Act.
Section. 5. Grounds for Dissolution. - A spouse may file for a petition for 
dissolution of marriage on the following grounds:
a. When either of the spouses has no capacity to perform the essential marital 
obligations of the marriage and the incapacity continues and appears to be 
incurable;
b. When there is an existing irreconcilable marital difference;
c. When a spouse obtained a divorce abroad;


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d. When a spouse is presumed dead under Articles 390 and 391 of the Civil 
Code of the Philippines;
e. Upon conviction of an offense under Republic Act No. 9262 otherwise 
known as "Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of2004')
f. Attempt by the respondent against the life of a common child or a child of 
the petitioner;
g. 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 in vitro or through a similar procedure or when the wife 
bears a child after being a victim of rape;
h. When any of the following grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 
45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, filed by the persons and within 
the periods provided in Article 47 of said Code, are present:
1. 
That the party on whose behalf It is sought to have the marriage 
annulled was eighteen years of age or over but below twenty- 
one, 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, 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 afterward, 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 wife;
5. That either party was physically Incapable of consummating the 
marriage with the other, and such incapacity continues and 
appears to be incurable; or
6. That either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible 
disease found to be serious and appears to be incurable.


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i. 
Except when circumstance is present under Article 56 of the Family Code 
of the Philippines when any of the following grounds for legal separation 
under Article 55 of the said Code are present:
1. 
Repeated 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 of the respondent;
6. 
Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;
7. 
Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous 
marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad;
8. 
Sexual infidelity or perversion;
9. 
Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner; or
10. Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable 
cause for more than one (1) year.
j. When the spouses are separated in fact for at least two (2) consecutive 
years at the time of the filing of the petition for divorce; and
k. When the spouses have been legally separated by judicial decree under 
Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines.
Section 6. Conversion to Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. - Subject 
to notice and hearing, an aggrieved party to an action under Sections 36, 45, 55 of 
the Family Code of the Philippines may convert the action, upon a motion, into an 
action for dissolution of marriage under this Act.
Section 7. Mandatory Cooling-Off Period. - A six-month mandatory 
cooling-off period after the filing of the petition for divorce shall be observed before 
the competent court may start the trial of the said 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 falling under:


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a. Summary judicial proceedings;
b. Sexual infidelity under Section 5 (i)(8) of this Act;
c. Attempt by the respondent against the life of a common child or a child of 
the petitioner under Section 5 (f) of this Act;
d. Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner under Section 
5 (i)(9) of this Act; or
e. Those which involve acts of violence against women and their children 
under Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9262.
Section 8. Reconciliation. - The petition for dissolution shall be dismissed 
upon showing that the parties reconciled in a verified joint motion filed by the parties.
Section 9. Summary Procedure. - The rules on summary procedure shall 
apply to grounds in Section 5 (c), (e), (g), (i) par. 4, and (k) of this Act.
Section 10. Collusion Investigation. - If no responsive pleading is filed by 
the adverse party, the court shall issue an order requiring the public prosecutor to 
conduct a collusion investigation in sixty (60) days with notice to the parties whether 
collusion exists. The court shall dismiss the petition upon showing that collusion exists.
Section 11. Protection of Creditors - 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 divorce and notified of the filing 
thereof. The court shall take measures to protect the creditors and other persons with 
pecuniary interest.
Section 12. Support and Custody Pendente Lite. - During the pendency 
of the action and in the absence of adequate provisions in a written agreement 
between the spouses, the Court shall determine the support of the spouses and the 
custody and support of the children.
Section 13. Effects of Dissolution of Marriage. - Upon the finality of the 
dissolution of marriage:
a. The marriage between the husband and wife is dissolved thereby 
capacitating them to contract to marry;
b. The children of the parties shall be considered legitimate;
c. The custody of minor children shall be decided by the competent court in 
accordance with the best interests of the children, subject to the provisions 
of Article 213 of the Family Code of the Philippines;


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d. The judgment shall provide for the liquidation, partition, and distribution of 
the properties of the spouses, the custody and support of the children, and 
the delivery of third presumptive legitimes pursuant to Articles 50 and 51 
of the Family Code of the Philippines unless such matters had been 
adjudicated in previous judicial proceedings;
e. In the partition, the conjugal dwelling and the lot on which it is situated 
shall be adjudicated in accordance with the provisions of Articles 102 and 
129 of the Family Code of the Philippines; and
f. 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.
Section 14. 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 15. 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 16. Effectivity, - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,