Once more we are celebrating the International Women’s Day this 8th of March and the entire March as women’s month. Filipino women recognize and celebrate certain gains achieved in the areas of Human Rights as Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. Yet the reality is still that millions of Filipino women continue to suffer. Many are still victims of Human Rights Violations, Domestic Violence and Gender Discrimination.
The existence of laws such as RA 9262, the Anti-Violence
Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 and RA 9710, the Magna Carta of
Women that took effect in 2009, have not paved the way to the desired
protection and genuine advancement of Filipino Women. As we all know our
country continues to struggle in the areas of proper implementation,
enforcement, compliance and observance of existing laws.
It is in this regard that groups like the Transformative
Justice Institute (TJI) unceasingly continue with its advocacy in defeating the
prevalent culture of patriarchy in our society where various forms of gender
discrimination continue to thrive. That pervasive culture is still present
among the various pillars of our criminal justice system especially the courts,
tasked in the administration of justice.
It is a great blessing that our government mandates all of its entities and
instrumentalities including GOCCs, government owned and controlled corporations
to continue to strengthen their Gender and Development (GAD) programs. The
Commission on Audit (COA) is meticulously looking into the proper use of their
5% GAD budget.
Reversing the culture of patriarchy is not an easy matter.
There is so much resistance to the needed change. That is the reason why women’s groups
including the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) continue to push for PAPs,
programs, activities and projects geared towards attainment of gender equality.
We are aware that one day we will achieve what we want and so we always say, “Padayon ta”, let us move on, let us continue.
DIVORCE LAW NEEDED
So many grounds have
already been raised and written why we need Divorce Law in the Philippines. We
are all aware that there are so many irreconcilable relationships of previously
married couples. Many of them already have different families yet they cannot
seek for nullification of their marriages under Article 36 of the Family Code
on psychological incapacity or any other law. Other than that, we
are all aware how expensive is the process of using Article 36 to be able to
seek nullification of marriages so that they can be freed to remarry another.
Let me add another
reason here why Divorce Law is needed in the Philippines.
During the first meeting for the year 2015 of the PCW Board
of Commissioners (BOC) last January 27, 2015, the head of the PCW Policy
Division, Ms. Annette Baleda, in her report regarding the proposed amendments
for the Code of Crime stated that in one of my meetings with them I mentioned
that many women’s groups and the Transformative Justice Institute (TJI), would
rather have a Divorce Law instead of introducing Sexual or Marital Infidelity
to amend the provisions on Adultery and Concubinage in the Revised Penal Code
(RPC).
The Transformative Justice Institute is actually advocating
for the decriminalization of Adultery and Concubinage under the RPC and Marital
Infidelity as provided for under RA 9262.
The proposal of the Code of Crime Committee is to have Marital or Sexual Infidelity in the proposed
Code of Crime. The same shall be a crime for either the husband and wife with
similar penalty to do away with the discriminatory laws on Adultery and Concubinage
and stop the double standard of morality prevailing in our society.
PCW Chair, Remmy Rikken would like for me to expound on the
proposal regarding the Divorce Law to be tackled during a special meeting
called for that purpose in April this year.
I committed to write about the need to decriminalize the
acts of marital or sexual infidelities among spouses and instead push for
Divorce Law, which will serve as discussion paper for the PCW BOC.
In order to share the discussion about this concern to a
bigger audience I am featuring the same in this blog for this Women’s month.
My next article for this blog will be the
rationale regarding the urgent need for the implementation of RA 8369,
for the Creation of Regular Family Courts, which is also lined up as a subject of discussion by the PCW BOC in that
special meeting. I really am glad to be able to do this because we have a very
dynamic and active Representative from the Department of Budget and Management
(DBM) who is with the BOC.
Special meetings of the PCW BOC will indeed be strategic to
Women’s Advocacies especially because representatives from various government
agencies like the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of
Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), the Department of Health (DOH) among others, are with us in
the BOC.
Private Sector Representatives like me can directly raise
vital concerns to the level of concerned government agencies. It is very
strategic for me to have the opportunity to try to convince the PCW BOC for
instance, about the need for a Divorce Law in the Philippines and for RA 8369,
the Creation of the Regular Family Courts, to be implemented.
As a Christian feminist, I usually include in my arguments
for Divorce Law, what is written in the book of Matthew 19 of the New
Testament. Jesus said he hates divorce.
He stressed that it is important for husbands and wives to remain together once
they get married because God wants it
that way.
Matthew 19 of the New Testament narrates when the Pharisees
who were questioning Jesus, further asked him on “why Moses granted certificates of divorce?” in
verse 8
Jesus replied “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your
hearts were hard.” (NIV)
The Bible clearly tells us that during the time of Moses he
was a lawgiver and at the same time a judge. When Moses saw that many people
are not heeding what God wants for married couples to do, which is to love each
other, to remain faithful to each other, and to respect one another, he then
issued certificates of divorce to those who do not heed the law.
Under the New Testament, in the book of Ephesians, Apostle
Paul admonishes husbands to love their wives like Christ loved His church.
Wives are admonished to submit to their husbands. Submission means respect not
subservience.
Both husbands and wives are required to submit to one
another. If the husbands would love their wives the way Christ loved the church
to the point of dying, surely no wife would complain. Jesus is the epitome of
love, gentleness, kindness, mercy and compassion and will not do anything to
harm the church or His bride.
Members of our law making body in the Philippine
Congress, sometimes even quote the Bible
in the process of deliberating and discussing pending bills as what happened in
the RH Law. Thus, they must be informed that just like Moses, the Law Giver,
they are bound to pass a Divorce Law considering that many spouses and married
persons are not able to follow and heed their promises to each other as
husbands and wives.
In situations like that it is not only the couple but their
children who are deeply traumatized and affected thereby placing the Children
to be at risk and sometimes even turn out to be CICL, Children in Conflict with
Laws that breach the peace in the communities.
The old Congress criminalized Adultery and Concubinage under
the Revised Penal Code. In order to be gender responsive, the Criminal Code
Committee which is now drafting the much needed amendments of the Revised Penal
Code. It has proposed for the abolition of both Adultery and Concubinage. In
lieu of the same, Marital or Sexual Infidelity with similar elements for both
the husband and the wife is being proposed.
The punishment shall also be similar unlike the present laws
on Adultery and Concubinage where it is easier to cause the conviction of wives
who commit sexual infidelity as the against husbands committing the same act.
Besides that, the penalty against the women is higher than the men convicted of
concubinage.
Under Republic Act 9262, the Anti Violence Against Women and
Their Children Act of 2004, “marital infidelity” falls under the category of
psychological abuse. Only married women can invoke this provision on
psychological abuse against their husbands. Obviously, such provision is also
discriminatory.
Admittedly, the provisions of the prevailing laws involving
marital or sexual infidelity are truly problematic. In many criminal cases
filed against husbands using RA 9262, they file counter charges by accusing
their wives of Adultery. In both situations there can be imprisonment of either
the husband or the wife or both. Imprisonment of either of the parents add more
trauma to the children of dysfunctional families.
It is also a reality that there are no programs for the
correction and rehabilitation for doers of violence when they are placed behind
bars. Being imprisoned can even further harden them due to some dehumanizing
conditions in most of our prisons in the Philippines.
Whenever there is
imprisonment of husbands or partners, who are fathers of children of the
abused women, many children express disgust. In many cases the children
manifest their hatred against their mothers. The women victims of violence
become more burdened in situations like these without understanding why the
children are not siding with them and even rebel against them.
Support groups of victims of violence have also observed
that reactions of the children is mixed
and different in cases of physical or sexual abuses compared with psychological
or economic abuses.
In cases of physical
or sexual abuses most children desire for their fathers to be put away but not
necessarily imprisoned. This particular concern should be a subject of a
thorough discussion and review of RA 9262 that categorize 4 forms of abuses
namely: physical, sexual, psychological and economic.
Situations of Physical and Sexual Abuses could be different
because those who physically abuse their partners oftentimes also physically
abuse their children.
In Davao City, the Justice and Healing approach in cases
involving Psychological and Economic Abuses is gaining so much popularity. In
this regard, we are training Justice and Healing Teams in handling cases of
Domestic Violence involving psychological and economic abuses only.
Some of those who
have been trained on Justice and Healing are Policepersons and Social Workers.
The Integrated Gender and Development Division (IGDD) of the local government
is facilitating along with the WOMYNET, MOVE, Men Opposed to Violence
Everywhere and the Transformative Justice Institute along with the ACCCTTS
Center, facilitate such trainings of Justice and Healing Teams.
In our experience, a huge majority of women who petition the
courts for violation of RA 9262, eventually execute Affidavits of Desistance
and no longer proceed with their cases. Oftentimes the reasons given include
the lack of gender sensitivity and responsiveness in the administration of
justice and the deeper trauma being manifested by the children when their
fathers are imprisoned.
What is clear to us is that the punitive or retributive
approach under the existing laws are not beneficial to all the parties
concerned. The same is true to the women, men and the children in marital and
family related disputes.
The way we look at it, the Restorative Justice and
Justice and Healing approaches will be more beneficial to all concerned.
In this regard, the Divorce Law can stress on the aspect of
counseling, and professional interventions such that even if the couples could
no longer reconcile, the children will not be further traumatized but instead
be able to accept and cope with their realities in a more positive light .
In our experience even those who were previously doing
physical abuses when properly corrected and rehabilitated can be transformed.
Since nobody can force anybody to continue to live with each
other when those involved no longer find it viable, the State much be able to
offer the proper remedies and solutions.
For as long as divorce is based on very strict grounds that
will not trivialize marriages it is about time that our Congress just like
Moses allow certificates of divorce that will be more beneficial to all
concerned especially to the children who are vulnerable and are at risks .
As I greet you Happy Women’s Month let me share the
following encouragement I submitted to the PCW upon their request, for a
project, in celebration of the Women’s
Month.
MGA JUANA, UMUSAD, MANGUNA AT
MAMUNO TAYO
By:
Atty. Adoracion P. Cruz Avisado, PhD
Commissioner, Philippine Commission on Women
Ang galing at tatag
ng kababaihan,
Ay subok
na sa lahat ng bagay;
Sa
pangangalaga ng pamilya,
Pangangasiwa ng pagawaan,
Ng
komunidad at bayan,
Tayo’y
napakahusay;
Gamitin
natin talino at lakas
Na ibinigay
ng Poong Maykapal
Tungo sa
pagbabago
Nang ating
lipunan;
Umusad tayo
sa lahat ng larangan !
Manguna tayo
sa lahat ng bagay !
Mamuno tayo ng buong husay at katapatan !
Tungo sa
pag-unlad ng ating bayan !
On the
aspect of Gender Equality, Galatians 3:28 states:
“ There is neither Jew
nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus.”
Dory Cruz Avisado
3-7-2015
