By Ben R. Rosario
With the usual strong objection of the Catholic Church hardly felt at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, the bill seeking to institute absolute divorce in the country is expected to be passed on final reading in the House of Representatives before Congress goes on break starting Friday.
This prediction was boosted by the fact that only 14 out of over 100 congressmen who attended last week’s all-party caucus raised their hands to air their negative vote on House Bill 7303 or the Absolute Divorce Act of 2018.
Authored by House leaders headed by Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, HB 7303 breezed through second reading approval on Wednesday.
Without hitches such as lack of quorum, there is little reason to believe that the measure will be approved by Wednesday and sent to the Senate for its action.
Also predicted to be passed on third reading are HB 7185 proposing the recognition of a decree of divorce granted by other countries and HB 7378 providing for a third postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections from May 14, 2018 to Oct. 8, 2018.
Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe revealed that while passage of HB 7303 could be relatively easy in the House, authors anticipate rough sailing in the Senate.
“But we were told that only provisions calling for absolute divorce will be thrown out, dissolution of marriage is acceptable among senators,” Batocabe said.
Except for a group of Catholics headed by House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza that furiously objected to the bill, there appeared to be a unanimous support for the divorce measure among congressmen.
Requesting anonymity, a senior administration congressman offered an explanation that the near absence of strong Catholic Church opposition is deliberate.
“Learning their lessons from the approval of the death penalty bill, church leaders believe that congressmen, especially those belonging to the supermajority, are beholden to the leadership of the chamber,” said the source.
