Blog by Mikaila Medeiros, Junior Associate
Most people don’t go into a marriage thinking it will end up in a divorce. In 2025, it is estimated that around 41% of marriages will end in a divorce.[1] In 2022, over 2 million marriages commenced, and nearly 700,000 of those marriages were reported as divorces or annulments in the United States.[2] There are only two countries in the world which still have a ban on divorce, which is the Philippines and Vatican City.[3] The reason for not legalizing divorce comes from the deep religious belief in Christianity and the effects on the Catholic Church.[4] This creates a societal pressure going against divorce being that almost 88% of the population are Christians.[5]
There are plenty of other reasons people wish to leave their marriages besides falling out of love. In the Philippines, emotional, physical and sexual abuse/violence is experienced by almost 15% of married Filipino females ranging in ages 15- 49.[6] “Divorce itself is not inherently damaging” and issues such as domestic abuse, and infidelity are instances where divorce may actually preserve the family.[7] In situations of abuse, without being allowed a divorce, the abuser still has access to their spouses’ assets, and the children they share if they have any.[8] Feeling trapped in a marriage, nonetheless an abusive marriage, can cause mental trauma to those being abused.[9] Currently, Filipinos have the option of legal separation or an annulment.[10] This comes with multiple issues. Legally separating does not dissolve the marriage and annulments are very pricey and require the person seeking the annulment to provide proof that the marriage was void from the start.[11] Most Filipinos cannot afford an annulment[12] and, in one situation, a 36-year-old woman spent $5,200 on her annulment, which she had to move and quit her job to make more money to afford the annulment, all for her petition to be denied.[13]
There finally may be some change for divorce in the Philippines.[14] The Philippines House of Representatives passed the Absolute Divorce Act on May 22, 2024[15] – this has the potential to change the stance on dissolving marriages after all.[16] If passed by the Senate, divorces can be finalized sooner than ever before and there is a greater chance for approval due to more grounds of divorce being added.[17] Some added grounds are “physical abuse, drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, chronic gambling, marital infidelity, and abandonment.”[18] Many people are hopeful that before time runs out, the Senate will pass the Act before having to start the legislative process all over again.[19] Many believe continuing to make divorce illegal to be an infringement on basic human rights according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[20] Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 16, both men and women have a right to marry and a right to have a family regardless of race, nationality or religion, and are equally entitled rights during the marriage and at its dissolution.[21] Divorce has been compared to medicine – “you only take this if you’re sick, but you don’t deprive those sick people of the medicine.”[22]
[1] Robert McAllister, Divorce Rates in US 2025 – Current Trends and Analysis, NCHstats (Jan. 13, 2025), https://nchstats.com/divorce-rates-in-us/#:~:text=Robert%20McAllister,evolving%20dynamics%20of%20modern%20relationships.
[2] Id.
[3] David Hutt, Is Divorce Coming to the Philippines?, Deutsche Welle (Oct. 11, 2024), https://www.dw.com/en/is-divorce-coming-to-the-philippines/a-70469717.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Tracy Mae Ildefonso, Will the Philippines Finally Legalise Divorce?, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (Aug. 8, 2024), https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0808/1463904-absolute-divorce-act-bill-philippines-catholic-church/.
[7] Mark Saludes, The Philippines has held out on Legalizing Divorce. Is it Set to Call it Quits?, The Christian Science Monitor (Oct. 9, 2024), https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2024/1009/The-Philippines-has-held-out-on-legalizing-divorce.-Is-it-set-to-call-it-quits#:~:text=The%20Philippines%20is%20one%20of,according%20to%20the%20country’s%20constitution.
[8] Sui-Lee Wee, ‘Just Like Medicine’: A New Push for Divorce in a Nation Where It’s Illegal, N.Y. Times (Nov. 4, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/04/world/asia/philippines-divorce-illegal-legislation.html.
[9] Id.
[10] Hutt, supra note 3.
[11] Id.
[12] Ildefonso, supra note 6.
[13] Wee, supra note 8.
[14] Joseph Rachman, The Philippines May Finally Legalize Divorce, Foreign Policy (July 3, 2024), https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/07/03/philippines-divorce-bill-catholic-church-illegal/.
[15] Ildefonso, supra note 6.
[16] Hutt, supra note 3.
[17] Ildefonso, supra note 6.
[18] Id.
[19] Hutt, supra note 3.
[20] Id.
[21] G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Dec. 10, 1948).
[22] Wee, supra note 8.