Outline
Thesis Statement: I agree to the implementation of the Divorce
bill.
I.
Introduction
A. Introduction for the argument: The
choices
B. Thesis Statement
II.
Body
A. Definition
of Divorce
B. Existence
of choices for ending a bad marriage
1. Annulment
2. Declaration
of nullity
3. Legal
separation
C. Arguments
against Divorce bill and refutation
1. Raise
in divorce rate
2. Weaken
family ties and harm children
3. Make
people unhealthy
4. Cause
financial problem
III.
Conclusion
A. Persuasion
to agree to the thesis statement
B. Thesis
statement
In
addition to the RH Bill another controversial bill was introduced to the
Philippines. It is the House Bill 1799 or better known as the Divorce Bill. The
Divorce Bill is simply about legalizing divorce in our country. Following the
legalization of divorce in Malta, Philippines is now the only country in the
world that has not legalize divorce. At the rise of issue regarding the
implementation of the Divorce Bill, the masses were divided into mainly two
groups: those who agree to the implementation of the Divorce Bill and those who
don’t. In this issue I take the stand of agreeing to it.
Before
all this, let us first define divorce. According to the Merriam-Webster’s
online dictionary, divorce is defined as the action or instance of legally
dissolving of a marriage. (2012) So, the legalization of the Divorce Bill will
be the legalization of a bill about being able to legally dissolve a marriage.
Currently
in the Philippines there are already three ways to end a marriage legally. It
is either through annulment, declaration of nullity or legal separation. (Festin,
2011)With these three options existing people still wanted the implementation
of divorce simply because these three options are flawed. In an annulment the
marriage would not be recognized by the law and would be considered as it had
never existed. But this is not the only reason why an annulment is not good
enough for the people. An annulment can only be obtained under circumstances
where the there was no parental consent for those who are above 18 years old
and below 21; when the marriage was conducted while one of the party is not in
a sound mind to understand what is happening, when the marriage happened by
fraud or by force; when one party is found to have STD that is serious and
incurable; when one of the party is discovered to have impotence or physical
incapacity which is does not cover one being unfertile meaning this would not
account to an annulment, another about this is that to prove that one is
physically incapable would require check-ups from experts which would cause a
lot of money that most Pilipinos could not afford. (Santos, 2011) In a
declaration of nullity it is almost the same as an annulment which denies the
existence of the marriage from the beginning. But in this type of separation
there is another set of basis for the petition to be filed. In this situation
only reason such as minority, lack of authority of solemnizing officer,
absence of marriage license, bigamous or polygamous marriage, mistake in
identity, failure to record with appropriate registry, incestuous marriage,
void by reason of public policy, and psychological incapacity could have a
declaration of nullity. Both kind of separation would result to making the
child illegitimate since the marriage would not be recognized by the law. For
the children to not be illegitimate there is the legal separation. This also
covers problems such as being abused, being corrupted or induced to engage in
prostitution or connivance, having the correspondent imprisoned for more than 6
years after the final judgement, having a drug addict or alcoholism partner,
having a homosexual partner, being in a bigamous marriage, having a sexual
infidel or pervert partner, having one’s live being threatened, and being
abandoned with no cause for more than a year. With the addition of the legal
separation this three sounds good enough, but what made it short is that in
legal separation one is not entitled to remarry. (Fred, 2007) The Divorce Bill
covers all these concerns.
Another argument on this is that the introduction
of the Divorce Bill would make the divorce rate in the country high. Contrary
to this argument there are data that shows low divorce rates that only have a
low divorce rate even if they are allowed to get a divorce. Some
of these counties are Mongolia with 0.38, Georgia with 0.36 and Libya with only
0.24 per 1000 people. (2006)
In
line with the argument that it will make the divorce rate high, the
introduction of the Divorce Bill is said to weaken family ties and would cause
harm to the children. If the Divorce Bill is to weaken family ties then how
come the divorce rate in some countries maintain low? These low rates on
divorce are also evidences of strong family ties and people would not easily go
to the option of filling a divorce. Those who proposed the divorce has also
given thought to control the divorce rate and therefore would set standards for
the divorce to pass. In case the divorce is passed and the married couple is
permitted to separate, those people who are anti-divorce bill argues that it
would harm the children. Think of it the other way around. If the children were
to stay in a house where the parents would continue to fight would it not cause
harm to the children as well? If one party were to be abusive of the other
would the children be unharmed emotionally? If one party gets more abusive and
decides to hit the children as well is there no harm caused? When this kind of
things happen in the family is it not better for the parents to separate for
the good of the children as well?
Some
people think that divorce could make the people involved unhealthy because they
do not have partners that they could talk to. Since humans are naturally social
animals it is expected that humans who have someone to talk to would have a
healthier mind and have the initiative to have a healthy body as well. Again,
think of it the other way around. If it were always fights in the house would
the people there still be able to communicate properly and be in a healthy condition?
Instances were one will be abusive of the other; one of them is surely in an
unhealthy condition, is it not?
Some
up all this perhaps the most important question is about the financial
condition. Most families in the Philippines have their fathers work and mothers
stay at home watching the kids. After the divorce the mother who has no work
would surely have a problem in getting even the basic needs for living. This
problem is also covered by the divorce bill. In the bill proposed the one who
is working is entitled to support the jobless one until he or she is able to
get a job. To be able to prevent the abuse of leeching of the partner this
support is only valid until one year after the divorce is made final.
The
Divorce Bill that is being proposed covers all the possible problems that would
be encountered by a married couple and has the solutions to the questions rose
against it. Those who proposed the bill had definitely given the issue a
thorough view and gave the best possible solutions to it. Those people who
agree to the Divorce Bill are not necessarily in favour of people getting
divorce because of the little things, but they agree to it simply because they
wanted to give chances to those who are in failed marriages that cannot anymore
bear with the problems growing because of the failure. It is giving a chance
for them to have a new and better life. Let us all be unselfish and think more
of those who are suffering. Once again, I am in favour of the implementation of
the Divorce Bill.
Reference:
Divorce.
(2012). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divorce
Festin,
R. (2011, July 9). Is the Philippines ready for divorce?. Inquirer. Retrieved
from: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/5183/is-the-philippines-ready-for-divorce
Fred. (2007, January 11). Annulment, Divorce and Legal Separation
in the Philippines: Questions and Answers [Web blog post]. Retrieved from: http://jlp-law.com/blog/annulment-divorce-legal-separation-in-the-philippines-questions-and-answers/
Maps
of the world. (2006). Top ten countries with the lowest divorce rate. Retrieved
from: http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-lowest-divorce-rate.html
Santos,
A. (2011, June 21). 9 reasons to support legalization of divorce in the
Philippines [slide show photo 8 of 9]. Female Network. Retrieved from: http://www.femalenetwork.com/news-features/9-reasons-to-support-the-legalization-of-divorce-in-the-philippines/
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