About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


24 Conn. J. Int'l L. 181 (2008-2009)
"Until Death Do Us Part?": A Proposal for the Philippines to Legalize Divorce

handle is hein.journals/conjil24 and id is 183 raw text is: UNTIL DEATH DO US PART?: A PROPOSAL FOR THE PHILIPPINES TO LEGALIZE DIVORCE By Aurelia Miller' I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 181 II. BACKGROUND OF DIVORCE IN THE PHILIPPINES ........................................... 183 A. The Pre-Colonial Period ........................................................................ 184 B. The Spanish Regim e ................................................................................ 184 C. The American Era and the Commonwealth ............................................ 185 D . JapaneseO ccupation .............................................................................. 185 E. The Philippine Republic .......................................................................... 186 III. DIVORCE AND EXISTING PHILIPPINE LAWS ................................................... 186 A. The Family Code of the Philippines ...................................................... 186 B. Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines ................................. 189 IV. SHOULD THE PHILIPPINES ADOPT A DIVORCE LAW. .................................... 190 A . Social Argum ents .................................................................................... 191 B. Political and Religious Arguments ......................................................... 193 V. RECOMMENDATION FOR THE PHILIPPINES ..................................................... 196 A. System for Divorce: Fault or No-Fault System? .................................... 196 B . Proposed D ivorce Bill ............................................................................ 197 V I. C ONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 200 I. INTRODUCTION Divorce is prohibited in the Philippines, and such prohibition is seen as a reflection of the country's overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population and the allegiance it owes to the Vatican.' However, numerous countries of similar * J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law, expected 2009; B.S., Cornell University, 2006. I would like to thank Dean Anne Dailey for her guidance and suggestions. This Note is dedicated to all those who continually support me, including my father, Max, and Josepha. I. Nirmal Ghosh, Manila's Divorce Bill Exposes Paradoxes, THE STRAITS TIMES (Sing.), Mar. 14, 1999, at 36.