University of Cebu-Banilad Library

Thesis (Degree of Juris Doctor) -- University of Cebu Banilad, 2017.

Includes bibliographical references.

Summary: Prescribing a Type of Divorce in the Philippines

In the Philippines, spouses may terminate the marriage in either two ways, annulment or decleration of nullity of marriage. However, the grounds needed to avail these remedies must have occured before or during the celebration of the marriage. There is no law on divorce in the Philippines. Hence, grounds that arise during the marriage or after its ceremony cannot be used to terminate the marital bond. In recent years, the clamor for a divorce law has increased, and some studies have shown that enacting a divorce law is legally feasible. There is now a need to determine the type of divorce suitable for the Philippines.

To achieve this, this study used the qualitative-comparative methods of research as well as document analysis to compare and analyze the different laws at hand. This study identified the marital issues that occur during the marriage and showed that the current laws on the dissolution of marriages in the Philippines do not address such issues. The findings showed that those issues happening during the marriage are not grounds to dissolve the marriage under annulment or declaration of nullity. However, a careful look at various divorce laws in other countries and past divorce laws in the Philippines showed that such issues that arise during the marriage are addressed by these divorce laws. By comparing the grounds in each of the different divorce laws and the marital issues identified in the study as well as the latest divorce bills in Congress, the study found that most common grounds for divorce include violence, infidelity, abandonment and psychological incapacity to perform the marital obligations. In lieu of this, the study found that a fault-based type of divorce would be suitable for he Philippines as there is need to prove the existence of a ground for a divorce before terminating the marriage.

In conclusion, the study found that common marital issues in the Philippines are not addressed by its existing marriage laws, hence there is a need to propose a fault-based type of divorce for the Philippines which would be able to cover the common marital issues that exist during the marriage. This study also recommends that Congress should enact a law on divorce and identify its grounds and effects based on current issues that plague married couples.


Keywords: Family relations, divorce, marriage, annulment, nullity of marriage, legal separation, family, qualitative, Philippines.

Law Law

English