Clearly, the Catholic church is not going down without a fight in the issue of whether the divorce bill in the Philippines should be passed or not. Recently, reports state that prominent figures from the Catholic church have expressed very strong opinions opposing the divorce bill, supporting it with disadvantages and stating the inconsistency of the government that is causing confusion among Filipinos.
A CBCPNews report said that Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos said that the bill will lead to more immorality in the Philippine society. This meant that giving an easy passage to divorce could lead to more complacency of Filipinos that when their relationships fail, they could try over and over again.
Another Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said May 31 that the divorce is bill is “anti-Filipino.” He expressed through rhetorical questions how the divorce bill could alleviate broken marriages if it meant one or both spouses could marry multiple times, and how many more homes could be broken in the process, how many children will be forsaken. Archbishop Cruz stressed that children are strongly affected when their parents divorce.
More leverage of the mentioned opposing statements were supported by Father Melvin Castro when he said that the divorce bill could mean that people will be given the wrongful right to search for a perfect spouse by jumping from one marriage to another. “If the marriage falls short of that image, they will separate,” Castro said.
Today, the CBCP are against the divorce bill being reviewed in Congress more than ever. People now are wondering how come we are the only nation left without the law of divorce; some see it as a way of stepping up the nation’s game and be removed from it’s “third world” state. But the priests begged to differ, and I side by them in this opinion strongly. The Philippines is the only nation left without a divorce bill as Malta moves forward to respond to what the people want—why not take this fact as an advantage? “Kung sasabihin sa akin ‘kayo na lang ang natitira, Pilipinas, na walang divorce,’ Salamat sa Diyos! (If I were told, ‘Philippines is the only one left without divorce’) That is a distinction! I’m very proud of that!” he said. Divorce is not a way to get ahead of other countries or step to great country development; it is a wrong passage to positively reforming the Philippines.
Aside from opposing the divorce bill, the priests thought that it was part of the government’s tactics to confuse the public and deflect focus on more important issues that are not being solved immediately. Well, it did show from the very beginning that the President, Ninoy Aquino lacked precise direction and focus. Maybe it is because of his lack of experience? After all, he is more focused on building the future of his marital life. Kidding aside, the priests pointed out the lack of focus from PNoy’s opinions on the matter. Archibishop Cruz said that he was “having a harder time trying to trust the national leadership. It is a leadership that has no direction, it’s going around, round and round.” This could be the fact that PNoy himself did not have a clear stand on divorce, as if he was beating around the bush.
Sources:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/06/06/11/priests-say-divorce-leads-immorality
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/05/30/11/cruz-says-divorce-bill-anti-filipino
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/06/03/11/prelate-fumes-pnoy-over-divorce-rh-bills
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/06/03/11/divorce-ph-pros-and-cons
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