Dissolution of Marriage Bill
Msgr. Joseph Tan, information officer of the Archdiocese of Cebu, has expressed fear that the passage of House Bill 6027 or the Dissolution of Marriage Bill would eventually prompt the government to allow divorce in the country.
Tan said the church also has its own proceedings in handling the annulment of “defective” marriages.
Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, a pro-life advocate, said that the passage of the bill authored by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez could discourage couples from planning a church wedding because it will already be easier for them to have their legal union dissolved.
This early, Bullecer is asking leaders of the Catholic Church to already initiate moves that would convince legislators against passing Alvarez’s bill.
“Let’s not wait for this bill to become a law before we’ll take actions against it,” he said.
Alvarez authored House Bill No. 6027, titled “An Act Providing for Grounds for the Dissolution of a Marriage,” that lists irreconcilable differences or severe and chronic unhappiness causing the “irreparable breakdown of marriage” as the possible grounds for its dissolution.
His bill will allow one or both parties to file a verified petition for the dissolution of their marriage on either ground.
Alvarez said his bill will be given priority by the Lower House in a speech which he delivered on July 24 during the opening of the second regular session of the 17th Congress.
Tan said the church follows a different proceeding in handling annulment cases, different from civil court proceedings.
He said that couples who are annulled by court will not be allowed to re-marry in the Catholic Church unless they undergo annulment proceedings by the Canonical Tribunal.
Tan said that church annulments are allowed if the married couple no longer shared the same bed for a long period of time, if the consent for marriage was not completed, psychological incapacity and if the said marriage is null and void in the first place.