TINGOG Party-list lawmakers yesterday lauded the approval at the committee level of the party’s proposed measure seeking civil recognition of church annulment to make it accessible and not expensive for many Filipinos.

This developed after the House Committee on Population and Family Relations approved in principle House Bill (HB) No. 1593 or the “Church Nullity Act of 2022” and endorsed it to a Technical Working Group (TWG) tasked with crafting a substitute measure in consolidation with several other related bills tackled during its hearing.

“On behalf of Tingog Party-list, I’d like to thank the committee for its favorable action on House Bill (HB) 1593. This is a significant development that provides hope for an efficient and more affordable procedure to remedy the situation of couples trapped in an irreparable relationship,” said Rep. Jude Acidre, who co-authored the measure with fellow Tingog Party List Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez.

The action of the committee was prompted by the motion of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman to approve eight measures in principle and assign a TWG to craft a substitute proposal on the civil recognition of marriages dissolved by the Catholic Church and other religious denominations.

In his sponsorship speech before the committee, Acidre said that once HB 1593 becomes a law, a declaration of nullity decreed by the Church will hold as much weight and have the same effect as a civil annulment.

“This removes the burden of undergoing the civil annulment process. As a result, Catholics who have sought an annulment in the Church should not anymore be ‘long oppressed by the darkness of doubt’ over whether their marriages already declared null and void should also be recognized as such by the State,” Acidre said.

HB 1953 proposes that a marriage duly and legally solemnized by a priest, imam, rabbi, or presiding elder of an established church or religion in the Philippines which is subsequently annulled, dissolved or declared a nullity in a final judgment or decree in accordance with the canons and precepts of the church or religious sect, shall have the same effect as a decree of annulment, dissolution or declaration of nullity issued by a competent court.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco