SolGen urges Congress: Revisit marriage laws

MANILA, Philippines — The Solicitor General, while defending the government's stance on divorce, acknowledged the need for Congress to reevaluate the country’s existing marriage laws.

Answering a question from Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan during the oral arguments on a case of a foreign divorce on Tuesday, August 19, Solicitor General Darlene Berberabe agreed that it is “wrong” for only one religion to have a divorce, citing the Shari’a laws allowing divorce.

“The Shari’a law was passed based on respect for the customs and practices of the Muslims, and I think that—or I hope also—that our Congress would be on the way to pass legislation on divorce,” Berberabe said during Gaerlan’s interpellation.

“And if we follow legal realism as a philosophy, we should acknowledge that the times have changed and perhaps the time is now opportune to revisit the premises of the Family Code and the intent expressed by the Committee on Civil Code and the Family Code,” she added.

When asked about the prohibition of absolute divorce in the country, Berberabe said that relative divorce might be more acceptable because, unlike divorce, where the grounds arise after the marriage, annulment and declaration of nullity are based on causes that exist at the time of the marriage.

“Perhaps that is the rationale or the reason behind the preference against absolute divorce,” Berberabe said.

The Supreme Court held oral arguments on Tuesday for a case involving a Filipino dual citizen who got a divorce while living abroad, later became a naturalized foreign citizen, and then reacquired Philippine citizenship.

Oral arguments will continue on October 21.

Divorce in the Philippines. Along with Vatican City, which is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church and its pope, the Philippines remains one of the countries where there is no divorce.

Although Philippine laws provide guidelines and requirements for the annulment of marriage, there are no laws regarding divorce.

However, the Shari’a law, or the personal and family law of Muslims, allows divorce between married couples.