Lawmakers junk marriage contract expiration

[This is a follow-up about the controversial women’s group party-list proposal which we posted over the weekend.]

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(via the Philippine News Agency) Several lawmakers on Tuesday expressed disapproval on a proposal that would mandate a 10-year limit on the validity of marriage contract.

Women’s party list group Isa-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA), which is gunning for a seat in the May party-list elections in May, plans to put forth a measure requiring couples to renew marriage every 10 years so that it would not be voided.

Speaker Prospero Nograles said he was not in favor of the proposal as it was against his Catholic beliefs.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson also junked the proposal, saying couples who want to get out of the marriage can resort to annulment.

“Okay na yung legal or de facto separation and civil annulment of marriages ngayon,” he said.

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, a pastor, said making marriage renewable reduces it to a “mere legal contract” instead of a relationship.

“What is happening to our values? That’s what happens when people don’t believe in absolutes anymore,” he said.

Muntinlupa Rep. Rufino Biazon said the proposed marriage contract expiration should be opposed “because it will endanger the integrity of the ties that bind Philippine Society.”

“The Filipino family is acknowledged as the basic unit of society and it cannot be denied that marriage is the foundation of most Filipino families. Marriage and families cannot be treated separately and impose policies on one and not consider the other,” he said.

Biazon said the Philippine Constitution guarantees the protection of the family’s integrity and states that marriage is an inviolable social institution.

“The non-expiring marriage contract is not a violation of any human right because entering into a marriage is an option where those engaging in it are well aware of the terms,” he said.

“To give marriage an expiration is also to give families an expiration. It will be dangerous to open Philippine Society to the mindset that marriages and families have a pre-determined end,” he said.

While proponents may argue that the contract is renewable, Biazon said, “the fact that when you enter into marriage you already know it will expire at a certain date, it already affects the way society will look at marital unions.”

“While I will fight for the rights of women, I put more premium in protecting the integrity of the Filipino Family. I will oppose marriage contract expiration,” he said.

On the other hand, Marikina Rep. Marcelino Teodoro said the sanctity of marriage “should not be treated as merely a contract that has an expiry date.”

“We should respect the vows that the couple have exchanged and not give a deadline to it. This proposal bastardizes not only the sanctity of marriage but as well as the Constitution which dictates that marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman. This only obscures the inviolability of the family system which is only built upon by marriage,” he said. (by Lilibeth G. Ison / PNA)

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