www.hg.org/legal-articles/acknowledgment-of-divorce-in-the-philippines-2009 However, it is important to consider that marital relationships are not separate. This is an important implication because it also emphasizes that marital abuse and infidelity are not grounds for absolute dissolution of marriage, since marriage annulment and marriage annulment do not consider these grounds as null and void grounds for marriage. Citizens should have the right to dissolve marriages that are not physically and physiologically healthy. This is specially designed for a no-fault divorce. The great respect the country has for the sanctity of marriage should not undermine the impact of men and women unable to end a marriage that is not based on intrinsically good and just principles. Ultimately, proper implementation of divorce can help maintain justice for those who want legal armor in the event of marriage breakdown. As already mentioned, it is better to legalize divorce, because there is constant violence in households that threatens the safety of children, does not make its expensive alternative of annulment accessible to all citizens because the history of our country has already been divorced, and finally we have the freedom to choose whether divorce is relevant. Many positive points have probably been raised against its adoption, but I believe that the benefits to the Filipino community will far outweigh its disadvantages. Finally, divorce should be legalized, as it offers relief and allows victims of abuse, fills gaps in nullity, annulment and legal separation, and at the same time is a concept that is not foreign to Filipinos. By introducing divorce laws based on strict principles, divorce can be implemented effectively. Government interventions, which involve the recovery of broken families and children, can be combined with the institution of divorce. In this way, divorce becomes a system mobilized for families to find relief and is not misunderstood and abused by people who want to end a marriage.

Married couples should be free to decide whether divorce is relevant or necessary. In our current generation, where the Catholic Church is constantly challenged by progressive wings of parliament and civil society, freedom has become the word most strongly associated with current social problems. Society wants to implement same-sex marriages, marijuana legalization, etc. The implementation of divorce is just another law that exercises our right to be free and to act as we wish (within the laws of our country, of course). We should have the freedom to decide who we want to have a family with and with whom we want to spend the rest of eternity. The Philippines and the Vatican are the only two countries in the world where divorce is illegal (Emery, 2013, cited in Abalos, 2017). Although cancellation and declaration of invalidity are available in the Philippines, they are not preferred because they entail high economic costs (Taylor et al., as cited in Abalos, 2017). This makes cancellation inaccessible to those who can`t afford it.

The most vulnerable are those living in abusive relationships and living below the poverty line. In addition, there is also a big difference between annulment and divorce. Annulment recognizes that the marriage was null and void, while divorce terminates a legally valid marriage. This means that these two have different reasons for working and should not be confused with each other. Divorce should be legalized because it is different from the annulment to which citizens of the Philippines should be entitled. According to the announcement, the Philippines and the Vatican are currently the only two sovereign states in the world that still prohibit divorce. The announcement also stated that the approved bill includes the following grounds that can be invoked to file for divorce: The Manila resident is a vocal voice in the country`s ongoing struggle to legalize divorce and is secretary general of Divorce Lawyers of the Philippines (DAP), the only organization dedicated to divorce law. which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines. People who say divorce is not advisable for the Philippines forget or ignore our history. The ethnolinguistic communities of the Philippine archipelago practiced divorce before the Spanish conquest. We had a divorce law from 1917 to 30. August 1950, date of entry into force of the Civil Code of 1950.

The latter law prohibits divorce for Filipinos, and the ban continues under the current Family Code. But Muslim Filipinos have always practiced divorce, which Philippine law allowed, which represents only 10% of the current Filipino population. Today, divorce for Filipino Muslims is still available under the Philippine Code of Muslim Personal Law (E.O. 1083), enacted in 1977. Our recommendation for the reintroduction of this law is that married couples should only be contestable and qualified for divorce to a certain extent, for example, if one of the married couples suffers from drug addiction and refuses to seek treatment, has committed adultery, etc. Divorce should not be as simple as filing a petition. There should always be reasons to dissolve marriage, although I argue that this is a less complicated type of separation. Annulment is a very expensive process compared to divorce.