WE WISH TO CLARIFY THAT THE HOUSE HAS NOT APPROVED THE DIVORCE BILL YET. THE DIVORCE BILLS ARE STILL IN THE “FIRST READING” STAGE.
A public hearing on the three (3) Divorce Bills was conducted by the Committee on Population and Family Relations in the Lower House. A Technical Working Group (TWG), chaired by Rep. Edcel Lagman, has been created composed of representatives of the Authors and contending parties.
ALFI was represented during the public hearing and presented and submitted its position paper.
The TWG will evaluate, discuss and consolidate the findings and more closely examine the proposed measure based on the positions presented for or against it. When the process has been completed, the consolidated findings are integrated into the new draft of the bill and the revised proposed measure is presented to the main Committee which in turn, calls for another round of public hearings or series of public hearings.
There are still the “Second Reading” and “Third Reading” stages that a bill has to go through before the House can come up with an approved version. Of course, the same procedure will also have to be observed in the Senate which may come up with its own version.
For the detailed legislative process on how a Bill becomes a Law, you may want to check out: http://www.congress.gov.ph/legisinfo/.