Priest refutes senator: ‘Divorce will never be pro-family’
A Catholic priest urged Senator Riza Hontiveros not to eschew misrepresentation on divorce after claiming that it is “pro-marriage, pro-family, and pro-children”.
Fr. Jerome Secillano, Executive Secretary of the bishops’ public affairs committee, said that such claim contradicts the provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“Is she saying now that the Family Code and our Constitution are anti-family, anti-marriage, and anti-children since they do not guarantee divorce?” Secillano said.
“Divorce can never be pro-marriage, pro-family, and pro-children,” he said. “Let’s not twist facts just to suit a particular agenda.”
On the other hand, the priest stressed that legalizing divorce in the Philippines will only lead to more broken families.
“Filipinos deserve better than something that guarantees the disintegration of Filipino families,” he said.
Instead of pushing divorce, Fr. Secillano asked the senator to work for the amendment of the existing laws on marital separations.
“Why can’t Sen. Hontiveros focus on reforming these processes? They are guaranteed to be legal and constitutional. She can even make them less tedious and less expensive,” he added.
At a Senate hearing on Sept. 15, Hontiveros said that a divorce law will provide individuals the chance to “find true and meaningful relationships” as well as “protect children from abuse and rebuild broken families”.
SOURCE: cbcpnews.net
How can one argue that divorce will lead to ‘further disintegration of Filipino families’ when, in truth, most of these marriages were broken long before the idea of divorce even came to the minds of these families? The Philippines is one of two countries in the world that criminalise divorce; the other is the Vatican. How can we hope to progress if such sane ideas as women’s autonomy and contraception are obstructed and chastised at every turn? Over 600,000 women had illegal abortions in 2012; today that number is bound to be higher. Sorry to digress, but you claim to be pro life yet say nothing of the thousands of women who have died of illegal abortions in this country, and the countless more that have been doomed to a life of abject poverty by having to care for a child, even when they cannot afford to care for themselves.
Kailangan natin tanggapin na itong mga ilang daan-daan libong tao ay magkakaroon ng aborsyon, kahit pa illegal siya, at tama lang na puwede nilang gawin ito sa mga lugar kung saan safe siya. Eto nalang sasabihin ko, anong mas gusto ninyo: aborsyon sa ospital, gamit ng medisina kung saan ang nanay ay may chansa ma buhay, o sa isang bahay sa tondo, kung saan gagawin niya sa walong buwan ang bata, gamit ang isang metal na sabitan pang damit kung saan tatanggalin ang ulo ng sanggol muna tapos yun iba ibang parte ng katawan? Kasi iyan ang nangyayari ngayon, at mangyayari pa ito habang illegal parin ang aborsyon sa bansa natin.