The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading the measure that would do away with the lengthy and costly judicial process of marriage annulment. The said measure would provide for church annulment decrees to have the same effect as annulment and dissolution rulings by the courts, making civil proceedings unnecessary for religious marriages. Church annulment decrees would have to be recorded in the appropriate civil registries along with the spouses’ agreement on child custody and the properties. The bill would apply to marriages duly and legally solemnized by a priest, minister, rabbi, or presiding elder of any church or religious sect in the country. Romualdez cited Pope Francis’ call for a “briefer annulment process that involves the local bishop, and requires only a single judgment, dropping the need for an automatic appeal to a higher tribunal” in proposing the civil recognition of church annulment decrees.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 29, 2018 12:11 UTC