By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
The news caught my eye. It was on the pronouncement of Speaker Romualdez that they passed this year 34 of the priority bills in Congress, leaving only 11 to be tackled. I surmise the Divorce Bill was not one of those passed, even if millions of our citizens are eagerly awaiting for its passage. We remain the only country in the world without a divorce law and there appears to be no end in sight.
Why are our lawmakers insensitive to the needs of out people? Because of the Roman Catholic Church lobby. It is very strong. Perhaps also very wrong.
It is good we still have that annulment of marriage option which, however, is very stringent if we go by the decisions of the Supreme Court on the matter.
The good thing is that many, if not most of our judges, handling such cases are sympathetic to the plight of those who are unhappily married. So there is a good chance if you are filing for one that it will be granted because your lawyer will certainly engineer your petition to satisfy the requirements of the law. The problem is, if the government appeals the decision then the equation will be reversed. That is, chances are, the appellate court will strike down the decision granting the dissolution of the marriage.
Why? It is kinda complicated. Talk to your lawyer and he will surely make you understand.
So many of such cases are brought to court because the couple had been actually been living separately and have new respective families of their own. This is often the case among OFWs. Cannot really blame them when one went abroad seeking for a better life for his family but ended up having a new romantic partner. It is so easy to say that is bad but we should not be judgmental about it. Perhaps only when you go through the same situation could you begin to fathom the pathos about the effects of monumental decisions married OFWs take resulting in unfortunate break-ups.
It is even cruel to say, although this is a fact, so many lawyers, psychologists and psychiatrists are making good money from the miseries of such OFWs.
Think also of the sufferings their children go through and you will have no choice but to pray for them and to think of their situations with utmost reverence. Yes, how we wish we have a perfect world.
Last week, a lady came to see me. She wanted her marriage annulled. When I heard her story, the facts surrounding her case would make a long shot of a case. That would have been OK if the husband will not contest the move. Unfortunately, as she related, he will leave no stone unturned for the denial of the annulment.
When I explained to her the expected outcome, she swallowed hard and fell silent for a considerable number of minutes. I also explained to her the legal expenses and fees to be entailed.
Then I told her to come back after one week after thinking things over. I was hoping for her not to come back and not to meet another lawyer who will take advantage of her situation by promising to her the moon. And cajoling her to produce the money required which would reach several hundreds of thousands.
Hopefully she had some common sense that she never came back.
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