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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. _2283

Introduced by
REPRESENTATIVE PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ

AN ACT
INSTITUTING ABSOLUTE DIVORCE AND DISSOLUTION
OF MARRIAGE IN THE PHILIPPINES

EXPLANATORY NOTE:

On July 24, 2017, 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 third reading by the House of Representatives and was then
transmitted to the Senate of the Philippines on March 20, 2018.

The version of the bill that was approved on third reading and

transmitted to the Senate is herein reproduced, refiled, and its passage is
earnestly sought.

PANTALEON/D. ALVAREZ


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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House BILLNo. £263

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 2018”.

SEC. 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 marital bliss.

SEC. 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 a
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 as absolute divorce is instituted, the State has the role 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 of 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

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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;

(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

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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 (P5,000,000.00), whether
singly or jointly;

(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.
It may be committed in the form of:

(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)Homosexual refers to a person who is attracted to persons of the same
sex;

(0)Insanity refers to a condition or “a manifestation in language or in
conduct of a disease or defect of the brain, a more or less 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 the existence of overriding conflicts

between a married couple that are so pronounced and beyond repair as to

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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;

(x) 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 the 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 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

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(y) Transsexual refers to a person who emotionally and psychologically
feels that one belongs to the opposite sex, and 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 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 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

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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.

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 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; and

(6) Either party was afflicted with a sexually transmissible infection found

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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;

(©) 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. -

(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

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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 the 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 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.

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(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 obliged 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 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines shall be allowed to
amend and convert their 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;

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(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 in this Act.

SEC. 10. Mandatory Six (6)-Month Cooling-off Period. - Except for
grounds under summary judicial proceedings, under letters (a) to (e) in the
preceding 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
7g).

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;

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(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 the paraphernal or exclusive 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

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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
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. -

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(a)If the petitioners have agreed to reconcile, 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.

(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.

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
issue an order to protect the interest of creditors and such order 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.

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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 two (2)
representatives from women’s organizations to be appointed by the PCW in

consultation with civil society and women’s organizations shall promulgate

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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 invalid or 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,

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