According to the World Bank’s “Women, Business and the Law 2023” report released on Monday that gave the Philippines a score of 78.8 out of 100 in terms of laws that affect women’s economic opportunity, allowing Filipino women to obtain a divorce would help remove marital constraints that restrict their economic participation.
The report that showed no changes in the gender equality score of the Philippines since 2021 covered 190 economies and used eight indicators to identify barriers to women’s economic participation: mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pension.
Broken down, the Philippines scored 60 in marriage, parenthood, and assets – the lowest among the indicators. To improve the country’s marriage score, the WB said enacting a divorce law may allow women to contribute more to the economy.
“Where and while these [marriage related] constraints persist, women’s agency and decision-making powers within the household are weakened… Laws constraining women from becoming the head of household diminish [their] legal capacity and economic autonomy,” the WB said.
“The Philippines may wish to consider allowing women to obtain a divorce in the same way as a man, and giving women the same rights to remarry as men,” it added.
The country is one of only two states in the entire world, the other being the Vatican, that is yet to legalize divorce.
There is House Bill No. 9349 that seeks to legalize absolute divorce in the country. If enacted into law, it would allow divorce for couples that have been separated for at least five years, and reconciliation is no longer possible, or they have been legally separated for more than two years. However, the bill has so far divided the lower chamber.
Perhaps it is time that our legislators put more effort into debating the pros and cons of divorce, paying attention to measurable statistics and facts instead of emotions and politics, to come up with reasons to either finally allow divorce in the country, or if we keep both Filipino men and women trapped unhappy and economically constraining marriages forevermore, just because a certain sector continues to believe that it is the right thing to keep doing.*
