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'We want to be free': Filipinos demand right to divorce
The Philippines is the only place outside the Vatican where divorce is outlawed.
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This photo taken on February 14, 2023 shows a pro-divorce protester taking part in a demonstration on Valentine's Day in front of the Senate Building in Pasay, Metro Manila. The Philippines is the only place outside the Vatican where divorce is outlawed, with the Catholic Church--which holds great influence on Philippine society--opposing the practice as against its teachings. (AFP/Jam Sta Rosa)
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hilippine mother-of-three Stella Sibonga is desperate to end a marriage she never wanted. But divorce in the Catholic-majority country is illegal, and a court annulment takes years.
The Philippines is the only place outside the Vatican where divorce is outlawed.
Pro-divorce advocates argue the ban makes it harder for couples to cut ties and remarry, and escape violent spouses.
People wanting to end their marriage can ask a court for an annulment or a declaration that the nuptials were invalid from the start, but the government can appeal against those decisions.
The legal process is slow and expensive -- cases can cost as much as $10,000 or more in a country plagued by poverty -- with no guarantee of success, and some people seeking a faster result fall for online scams.
"I don't understand why it has to be this difficult," said Sibonga, who has spent 11 years trying to get out of a marriage that her parents forced her into after she became pregnant.
Sibonga's legal battle began in 2012, when she applied to a court to cancel her marriage on the basis of her husband's alleged "psychological incapacity", one of the grounds for terminating a matrimony.
