Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman’s recently-filed divorce bill seeks “a merciful liberation of the hapless wife from a long-dead marriage”—a dramatic summation of the state of the union among many wedded couples in this very Catholic country.

Given the Catholic Church’s perpetual threat to defiant lawmakers of damnation at the polls, Lagman might appear to be tilting at windmills with his latest bill. But surely the man has proven his mettle when he steadfastly shepherded the controversial reproductive health bill into law despite conservative forces blocking its passage for 14 years.