The Senate hearings on the divorce bill have ended and the committee report is being prepared for signature, Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Tuesday, July 18.
Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, is pushing to the passage of Senate Bill 147 or the Dissolution of Marriage Act.
“I am hopeful that the Senate will be open to it,” she said during a visit to Bacolod City.
The divorce bill will enable the dissolution of marriage in a shorter period and would be less costly, as long as a certain criteria is met, she said.
The law on legal separation and annulment that is a lengthy process does not allow remarrying, she said.
The dissolution of marriage or divorce bill allows remarrying, Hontiveros said.
The bill will not interfere the religious aspect of a marriage, it will only address the civil or legal aspect, she said.
The bill respects the separation of Church and State, Hontiveros said.*