The accusation of Deputy Speaker Jose Atienza, Jr. that the House committee on population and family relations railroaded on August 17, 2021 the unanimous approval of the substitute bill reinstituting absolute divorce in the Philippines is both belated and baseless.
The Philippines is at the threshold of joining the community of nations in sustaining the universality of absolute divorce when the committee on population and family relations unanimously approved the substitute bill on reinstating absolute divorce.
THE repeated question, which the surveys do not capture, asked by the marginalized and disadvantaged sectors, millennials and senior citizens, civil society and non-government organizations, progressives and professionals is: “How can I help Leni?”
For the second consecutive Congress, starting from the 17th Congress, an absolute divorce bill is bound for plenary debates in the House of Representatives.
The Committee on Population and Family Relations unanimously approved the unnumbered substitute bill crafted by a Technical Working Group (TWG) chaired by Rep. Edcel C. Lagman who is also the author of House Bill No. 100 on the enactment of an absolute divorce law.
President Rodrigo Duterte has no authority to stop the Commission on Audit (COA) from performing its constitutional mandate of safeguarding the utilization of public funds and making public the results of its audit.
