SAYING it will not affect strong and happy families, the chief of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) declared on Monday her support to legalize absolute divorce in the Philippines as this would be the answer for “thousands or even millions of Filipinos who are suffering from dysfunctional or broken families.”
Interviewed by The Manila Times, PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta hailed lawmakers from the House of the Representatives for passing the absolute divorce bill and senators who said they would support it when it is debated in the Senate.
“The absolute divorce bill will liberate those who have been suffering from abuses that spring from a wrecked family, those children who were being raped by their own fathers even in front of their mothers who were helpless because, they too, were dependent on them,” Acosta said.
PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta. TMT file photo
The PAO head appealed to senators opposed to the bill to show compassion by considering the plight of those with broken families.
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“You may not want this bill because you have a happy and loving family but how about those who have been suffering at the hands of their abusive husbands or vice versa and children who are rape victims by their fathers and those who are unfaithful and cheaters, please help them, release them from this dysfunctional, damaged family,” Acosta said.
As the government’s principal law office for “every Filipino,” the PAO is willing to assist in divorce cases once the bill is signed into law.
“We just hope that there would be … a provision under the proposed bill that would give PAO a mandate or authority to handle divorce cases because we don’t want to be accused of being attention grabbers. We just want to help resolve cases related to divorce,” she added.
Once authorized, the PAO could draft its own guidelines for the efficient handling of divorce cases, she said.
Acosta allayed fears that a divorce law would lead to abuse, saying people seeking a divorce would still undergo stringent scrutiny by a court.
Principally authored by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, House Bill 9349 “seeks to provide absolute divorce as a legal remedy for irreparably broken marriages under specific grounds and judicial processes, with the goal of sparing children from the emotional strain of parental dispute and allowing divorced individuals to remarry.”
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