SEN. Risa Hontiveros filed a measure legalizing “absolute divorce” in the country. The senator on January 14 filed Senate Bill 2184, which allows divorce as she noted that the Philippines was the only country in the world, aside from the Vatican City, where divorce is not legal. “Studies show that it is not divorce that creates well-being issues for children, it is bearing witness to the troubled marriages of their parents,” Hontiveros said. “It is the duty of the State to save children for the pain, stress, and agony of witnessing regular marital clashes with no end in sight,” she said. Hontiveros, chairman of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality said that the number and proportion of Filipinos separated has been increasing over time.

Source: Manila Times January 16, 2019 04:30 UTC