It’s anti-women, feminists say of proposed marriage expiry period

Besides members of the clergy, feminists are also against the proposal that puts a 10-year expiry date on marriages. Calling it “ridiculous" and “absurd," feminist lawyer Evalyn Ursua and Gabriela party-list Rep. Liza Maza said the proposal would diminish the value of marriage, making the union about as useful as an ordinary contract. “You will not enter a relationship thinking it’s not going to last. That’s why it is a ridiculous proposal because it connotes that regardless of the state of marriage and the quality of the relationship, it will still end," Ursua of the Women’s Legal Bureau told GMANews.TV in a recent interview. Maza said the “seemingly radical" proposal would go against the principle of promoting strong relationships. “If you don’t believe you should develop a relationship that will last, then why enter a marriage in the first place?" she asked. Isa-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso or 1-ABAA, a women’s group that applied for party-list accreditation for the May elections plans to propose a law that would require couples to renew their marriage after a decade. Otherwise, the union would be nullified. The group’s president, Margie Tajon, claims that its “pro-women" proposal will “save the incompatible couples the trouble of going through a tedious and expensive annulment process."

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Anti-women However, Maza says the proposal is in fact anti-women because it would hinder female victims of domestic violence to immediately get out of their marriage. “This 10-year expiration date could also mean prolonging the agony of battered women. There is a cycle of violence that involves the honeymoon stage and the violent stage, and it is possible that the batterer will suddenly shift from violent stage to honeymoon stage when the 10-year expiration nears and the cycle of violence will just continue," Maza said. Ursua and Maza believe that the proposal would be unable to secure congressional approval, given Philippine society’s high regard for marriage. “The sanctity of marriage is not based on the number of marriages existing but on the quality of marital relationships. When a marriage is no longer viable, divorce should be an option," said Maza. Unsuccessful Efforts to make it easy for couples to dissolve their marriages have not succeeded in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country. For more than a decade, lawmakers, including Maza, have filed measures to make divorce a law in the country. The bills only gathered dust in the legislative chamber after these were opposed by the influential Catholic Church and other conservative groups who believe that marriage is a lifetime exclusive partnership. In 2005, Maza filed a divorce bill to address the problems of women suffering from marital abuse and the expensive and lengthy process of dissolving marriage through annulment. Similar measures were filed in 2001 by Senator Rodolfo Biazon and then Aurora Rep. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo. In 1999, then La Union Rep. Manuel Ortega also introduced a bill for the legalization of divorce. ARCS/RJAB Jr. GMANews.TV