Senator Risa Hontiveros said that she will collaborate with Senator Robin Padilla to pass the Divorce Bill. 

“As in the past six years, I am always able to cross party lines and unite with other senators to push important laws,” she said in a statement. 

Hontiveros, who is currently the opposition leader and lone opposition member of the Senate, said that she is ready to work with senators from the majority bloc to push for her advocacies for women and children. 

Hontiveros said that to make proceedings faster, previous hearings and committee reports for the dissolution of the bill in the prior congress can be included. 

“To be clear, […the bill] will not affect the sacrament of marriage as observed by many religions. The law only affects marriage as a legal relationship creating obligations between spouses. It will have no impact on healthy marriages. It only serves to help those stuck in unions that have become irreparably toxic, broken, or abusive,” she clarified.

Expecting to retain her position as Chairman of the Philippine Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, Hontiveros said she will immediately work on the Bill once it is referred to her. 

Meanwhile, in a Facebook Live on Sunday, Robin Padilla said that Bill aims to protect families if the couple has irreconcilable differences. 

“Hindi po ito kailanman na sumasalungat sa pag-aasawa. Hindi ito isang bagay na kami ay kontra na magkaroon ng forever. Katunayan, ito pong panukalang ito ay nagbibigay ng proteksyon unang una sa mag-asawa–babae at lalaki–at sa kanilang mga magiging anak (My bill is never meant to destroy marriages. We would never object to marriages that last forever. In fact, my bill aims to protect the marriage, including the woman, the man, and their children),” he said.

Padilla noted that the  Philippines and Vatican City are the remaining nations that do not recognize divorce.

Photo Credit: Facebook.com/hontiverosrisa