Law on alimony and conjugal property may have to be reexamined in case divorce law gets passed

by Patricia B. Mirasol, Producer

The law on alimony, as well as the splitting of conjugal properties, may have to be rethought if the proposed divorce law in the Philippines gets passed, according to a law expert.

The sharing of conjugal properties stems from the traditional setup of the wife staying at home to enable her husband to make a living for the family, Jemy I. Gatdula, the dean of the Institute of Law at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said.

More women work nowadays, he pointed out in a July 3 interview.

“In terms of alimony…there’s a presumption that the woman is not employed, but that has to be reexamined because it could also be possible that the woman is outearning the husband,” Mr. Gatdula said.

“Some people could say that the woman should give the alimony to the husband,” he added, “but why should the woman give alimony at all, if they’re both earning money at the same time?”

The Philippines is the only country in the world that has not yet legalized civil divorce, which ends a valid marriage through a legal process and decree by a court.

The current avenues for married Filipino couples who want to separate is nullity of marriage (which renders a marriage void from the beginning due to reasons like bigamy), annulment (which renders a valid marriage null and void due to reasons like forced consent), and legal separation (which allows married couples to live apart while remaining legally married).

A 2020 government census found that – while 39.2% of the population were married – more than 400,000 individuals (or 1.9%) were either divorced, separated, or annulled between 2015 to 2020.

“In the case of nullity, the idea would be there was no marriage from the beginning, therefore the properties go back to where they were,” Mr. Gatdula told BusinessWorld.

“In a divorce law, that would probably be the default position, but there’s also the possibility of encouraging people to have prenuptial agreements,” he said.

The question of whether the spouses get to keep their respective properties in a legal separation, meanwhile, depends either on the circumstances or what they agreed upon prior to marriage.

House Bill No. 9349, or An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage, was transmitted to the Philippine Senate on June 10 by the House of Representatives.

It lists marital infidelity and domestic violence as valid grounds for divorce. It also includes all the grounds for legal separation, annulment, and declaration of nullity of marriage under the Family Code.

Articles 96 and 124 of Executive Order No. 209, or the Family Code of the Philippines, deals with the administration of community property and conjugal partnership. Both articles state that – although administration and enjoyment belong to both spouses jointly – the husband’s decision shall prevail in case of disagreement. The wife’s only recourse is to bring the matter before the courts.

In the 18th Congress, Senator Pia S. Cayetano sought to amend Articles 96 and 124 in the presidential proclamation. Instead of the husband’s decision prevailing in case of a disagreement, the amendment proposes that the court decides on the case only after the spouses exerted efforts to enter a compromise but failed.

The most damaging thing we can tell children are the fairytales where people marry and then go off to live happily ever after, according to Mr. Gatdula.

“True life goes on after the wedding vows,” he said.

“A better courtship culture – one that will allow our young men and women to be able to understand each other more, so that when they do get into a marriage, they know what they’re going into – is far better than having a divorce law,” he added.