A Literal ‘Till Death Do Us Part’: The Difficulties of Severing Marital Ties in the Philippines with No Divorce and the Court’s Struggle to Ease the Journey

Abstract

The Philippines, aside from the city-state of the Vatican, remains the only country in the world where divorce is not allowed to sever marriage and marital ties. Current law only allows certain remedies – annulment and declaration of nullity of marriage – which take time and resources to litigate. With a growing call to legislate divorce into domestic law, the lower house of the Philippines’ bicameral congress recently passed a bill, but the upper house does not appear to be receptive to the initiative, with several members even antagonistic to the movement. The judiciary then stands in a distinct position to be proactive in resolving disputes involving marital ties, but its attitude remains subject to the composition of the courts, although more recent approaches have been liberal. The paper tackles the current situation of divorce (or lack thereof) in the Philippines and the struggles of the people and the courts to navigate the perilous journey of severing marital ties in the country.