DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE BILL House Bill 6027

Aid to our research on the changes of landscape in the Family Code:

A marriage may be dissolved based on irreconcilable differences between the spouses,
or severe and chronic unhappiness.
The bill, however, does not define or list grounds for what constitutes "severe and
chronic unhappiness."
One or both parties may file a verified petition for the dissolution of marriage, along with
a joint plan for parenthood over children in the case of a joint petition. The plan should
contain details about the support, parental authority, custody, and living arrangements
of the common children.

What kind of changes would be needed to be done in the Family Code?

TITLE I- MARRIAGE
Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

Article 1. Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a

woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and
family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution
whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject
to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations
during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code. (52a)

TITLE III- RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE

Art. 68. The husband and wife are obliged to live together, observe mutual love,
respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support. (109a)

Art. 69. The husband and wife shall fix the family domicile. In case of
disagreement, the court shall decide.
The court may exempt one spouse from living with the other if the latter should
live abroad or there are other valid and compelling reasons for the exemption.
However, such exemption shall not apply if the same is not compatible with the
solidarity of the family. (110a)

Art. 70. The spouses are jointly responsible for the support of the family. The
expenses for such support and other conjugal obligations shall be paid from the
community property and, in the absence thereof, from the income or fruits of their
separate properties. In case of insufficiency or absence of said income or fruits,
such obligations shall be satisfied from the separate properties. (111a)

Art. 71. The management of the household shall be the right and the duty of both
spouses. The expenses for such management shall be paid in accordance with
the provisions of Article 70. (115a)
Art. 72. When one of the spouses neglects his or her duties to the conjugal union
or commits acts which tend to bring danger, dishonor or injury to the other or to
the family, the aggrieved party may apply to the court for relief. (116a)
Whether under the common law or under the civil law, upon marriage, the
husband and the wife become one single moral. Spiritual, and social being, not
only for the purpose of procreation, but also for the purpose of mutual help and
protection physically, morally, and materially. (Saclolo v CAR, 106, Phil. 1038)

With the new dissolution of marriage, it will dilute the purpose of article 68 on the
obligations of the husband and wife to the family with respect to the ground of the
dissolution being based on chronic unhappiness being a very broad term. Being broad
(not yet defined as of the moment), there is danger in that anyone can simply give up
easily on the marriage as soon as they feel unhappy with the marriage or try to fall
within what is deemed or considered as irreconcilable differences. This will not
strengthen the family as a “an inviolable social institution” under Article 1.

TITLE V- THE FAMILY

Chapter 1. The Family as an Institution

Art. 149. The family, being the foundation of the nation, is a basic social
institution which public policy cherishes and protects. Consequently, family
relations are governed by law and no custom, practice or agreement destructive
of the family shall be recognized or given effect. (216a, 218a)

Art. 50. Family relations include those:

(1) Between husband and wife;
(2) Between parents and children;
(3) Among brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half-blood. (217a)

Art. 151. No suit between members of the same family shall prosper unless it
should appear from the verified complaint or petition that earnest efforts toward a
compromise have been made, but that the same have failed. If it is shown that no
such efforts were in fact made, the same case must be dismissed.
This rules shall not apply to cases which may not be the subject of compromise
under the Civil Code. (222a)

These provisions will also be affected. The dissolution of marriage by irreconcilable

differences and chronic unhappiness will runs afoul to the code which states, “no
custom, practice or agreement destructive of the family shall be recognized or given
effect.” It also stipulates that earnest efforts shall be made towards a compromise. It is
not certain how marriage is being protected by the divorce through those two grounds
when there is a low threshold that merely needs to be met. It is even arguable how
“irreconcilable differences” and “chronic unhappiness” reflects the requirement of the
Family Code on putting effort into the compromise to make the marriage work. Surely,
this provision will be affected in the Family Code in adopting new provisions on divorce.
Amendments would be needed to accommodate the prerequisites of the
Dissolution of Marriage namely:
(1) Irreconcilable Difference and (2) Severe and Chronic Unhappiness

Article 55

A petition for legal separation may be filed on any of the following grounds:

1. Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed

against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner;
2. Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to
change religious or political affiliation;
3. Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common
child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or
connivance in such corruption or inducement;
4. Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more
than six years, even if pardoned;
5. Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the respondent;
6. Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;
7. Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage,
whether in the Philippines or abroad;
8. Sexual infidelity or perversion;
9. Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner; or
10. Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for
more than one year.
For purposes of this Article, the term child shall include a child by nature or
by adoption. (9a)

Title II of the Family Code provides an exclusive list of grounds for a petition for legal
separation. A decree of legal separation does not dissolve the marriage, it merely
involves “a mensa et thoro” of the spouses. The grounds, as a general rule, usually
occur after the celebration of marriage. The reason for the exclusivity of the list
enumerated by Article 55 is for the protection of the social institution of marriage.

A summary discussion of the grounds enumerated in Article 55:

- Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct as a ground for legal

separation connotes infliction of bodily harm wherein the determinative factor is
the frequency of the act, while grossly abusive conduct is determined on a case
to case basis.
- Compulsion by physical violence or moral pressure to change religious or
political affiliation as a ground for legal separation, quoting Justice Ricardo
Puno: the physical violence in this ground is for any purpose - no matter how
insignificant the purpose is, as long as there is repeated physical violence, there
 will be a ground for legal separation. Thus, if the terms “political affiliation” were
removed, it will mean that it can still be an item for purposes of legal separation
except that it must be repeated physical violence.
- Corruption or inducement to engage in prostitution as a ground for legal
separation, wherein the immoral and corrupt act and the inducement refers to
prostitution only. Mere attempt is enough to be a ground for legal separation,
except for cases wherein the “attempt” is committed against the child of the guilty
spouse with another person.
- Final judgment involving more than six years of imprisonment as a ground
for legal separation - self explanatory.
- Drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, lesbianism and homosexuality as
grounds for legal separation - self explanatory.
- Bigamy as a ground for legal separation, is the act of illegally contracting a
second marriage despite full knowledge that the first marriage is still validly
existing or without obtaining the needed judicial declaration of presumptive
death.
- Sexual infidelity or perversion as a ground for legal separation must be a clear
betrayal of trust of his or her spouse having intimate love affairs with other
persons.
- Attempt on life as a ground for legal separation must proceed from an evil
design.
- Unjustified abandonment as a ground for legal separation must be willful. And
the act is willful when there is a design to forsake the other spouse intentionally,
or without cause and, therefore, break up the marital union. There must be a
wrongful intent to desert, continued for a statutory period (Tipton v. Tipton).
There must be absolute cessation of marital relations, duties and rights, with the
intention of perpetual separation (Partosa-Jo v. Court of Appeals).
In all the foregoing grounds for legal separation, the acts or omissions of the parties
constituting said grounds may be proven through evidence and / or the actions or
inactions of the parties.The exclusivity of the list is a product of the intention of the
framers to preserve the sanctity of marriage. The Family Code discourages voluntary
dissolution of marriage even to the extent that it requires the State to ensure that the
evidence for the grounds are not mere fabrication and / or lies of the parties. The parties
may not secure a judicial declaration of nullity of marriage, an annulment, nor a decree
of legal separation based merely on a stipulation of facts. House Bill 6027, by proposing
that 1) irreconcilable differences between the spouses and 2) severe and chronic
unhappiness be made as grounds for legal separation, allows the marital bonds to be
completely severed based on a stipulation of facts, leaving the dissolution of the
marriage purely to the will of the spouses.

On the other hand, it will be difficult to advance the same exclusive and concise list of
grounds for the dissolution of marriage given that the bill only provides for vague basis
such as “irreconcilable difference” and “severe and chronic unhappiness” to be its
grounds for a petition, therefore making marriage very volatile and vulnerable to attack.
Guys take a look also at arguments on:
How might property relations change now adding divorce in the Family Code? How
will this be detrimental or even difficult to add changes and amendments to the Family
Code?
How will bad faith in marriage change with the new dissolution of Marriage? Will bad
faith be relevant in the new provisions? Will this alter the older provisions where bad
faith was an element in annulment/ nullity/ legal separation?
Kev mentioned something about Art 38. Perhaps we can look how that might change
too.