Expiration Date on Marriages

According to a study from the Center of Women's Resources, for every two hours a woman is either slapped, beaten and subjected to other forms of abuse. In a day, twelve women submit to cruel acts caused mostly by their loved ones or people they know, making violence the number one crime against women. Statistics shows that there are too many victims of abuse yet no actions have been done. Margie Tajon, president of the 1-Babae Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA) party-list group, suggests that the proposal for 10-year expiration on Marriage would strengthen marriage and not destroy it.

Tajon stated in an interview that this would allow couples to reassess the status of their marriage. In one of her points she states that it would benefit incompatible pairs who would like to be separated legally but have to undergo a tiring and lengthy process to annul their marriage. She stated that “Marriage annulment cases are clogging up our courts and we have to find a means to address the problem”. According to reports there were 8,000 annulment cases reported in 2008 and there are still more being deliberated in courts. A marriage license is a requirement for either a Civil or Church wedding to be held in the Philippines.

The Application Form for a marriage license must be secured at the Local Civil Registrar from the city, town or municipality where the bride or the groom resides. The personal appearance of the couple is required in applying for the marriage license. Both parties involved shall file separately a sworn application for each license with the proper local civil registrar and proper supporting documents shall be submitted. According to Philippine law a ten-day waiting period is prescribed from the filing of the Application to the issuance of the marriage license.

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The license is valid for 120 days from date of issuance and may be used anywhere in the country. A marriage license is just like any other form applied for in the country. Like a passport or driver’s license which expires, why can’t a marriage expire too? According to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano: “It’s a reflection of what is happening in our society,” referring to the growing clamor from women for more rights and social freedoms. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr finds the idea as funny. “It’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in my life. Does it mean marriage is just a trial? ” Pimentel said of the proposal.

Pimentel added that the issue of a marriage contract with an expiration date will go against the belief of the Filipino people that marriage is a sacred union done in the eyes of God. We are a predominantly Catholic country and the views of the people from the church are important. The Chairman of the CBCP’s National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal said that the proposal is “some kind of desperate approach to right a wrong by something wrong. ”. He says that “It is wrong for couples to separate and here comes a proposal for them to precisely separate,”.

According to him there are dire consequences for this proposal. The most serious of which is the emotional trauma on the children whose parents are separated. It will also produce more children and result in a population explosion. He added that a man who gets married at age 20 and decides not to renew his marriage with his wife can go on and on until he marries his sixth wife at age 70. The question here is if we would allow such a thing to happen and I say yes. We may say that the family is the basic unit of the society and that it holds our society together but what about the individual?

Families may seem happy on the outside but the inner workings are messed up. They may say that children will undergo emotional trauma if their parents separate. Children also undergo emotional trauma if they see or hear their parents fighting and if these situations worsen it will lead to abuse not only to the mothers but to the children as well. Our society has a problem indeed. We are stuck in the ways of the cavemen and our brain closes itself to the more liberated ideas which really benefit us.

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