(PNA file graphics by Meyo de Jesus)
MANILA – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called on divorce advocates to think carefully about the measure's effects on society.
In a pastoral letter issued Thursday after its 128th Plenary Assembly, the Conference said there is no need to rush the passage of the measure and that Filipinos must exercise self-control before calling for its enactment.
"Before we jump into the divorce bandwagon, before we end up regretting it and hearing those who dared to swim against the current, 'But we told you so!', can we just take a little more time and ask – could there be a reason why we are practically the last remaining country in the world that still has not opted to legalize civil divorce?" the letter signed by CBCP president Bishop Pablo Virgilio David read.
"The Tagalog expression, 'Maghunos-dili muna tayo at mag-isip-isip,' (Let us keep our cool and reflect) is probably the most appropriate exhortation to those who are too eager to come up with an Absolute Divorce Law in our country."
The CBCP also noted that it would be dangerous for the government to make it easy for married couples who are having problems with their relationship to have their marriages civilly dissolved.
"Think of the sufferings that you would have had to endure if civil divorce had already been available as a remedy for what your own parents may have thought back then were 'irreconcilable differences' between them," it said.
The CBCP added that allowing divorce is not a guarantee that the succeeding marriages will be better than the preceding ones.
"Statistics tell us that in countries where civil divorce is legal, 'failure rate for first marriage is roughly 48 percent, 60 percent for second, and 70 percent for third marriages' (National Center for Health Statistics in the United States). Are we sure we want our families to become part of (these) grim statistics?" it said.
At the same time, the Church leaders expressed appreciation for the move of laypeople to hold discussions on the proposed measure.
“As spiritual and moral leaders of the Church, we can only propose but never impose. We can only motivate our faithful to actively participate in reasoned public discourse as citizens,” the CBCP added.
On May 22, the House of Representatives approved Bill 9349, or the Divorce Bill, on third and final reading.
The bill was transmitted to the Senate last month. (PNA)
