STRONG MARRIAGE, STRONG PHILIPPINES
Position Paper of Pro-Life Philippines on Bills Introducing Divorce in the Philippines (summary)
Download the one-page leaflet for mass distribution here.
Pro-Life Philippines argues that:
- Strengthening marriage strengthens the Philippines.
- Divorce will add to our country’s problems rather than solve them.
- Effective solutions to marriage problems exist or can be developed.
1. Strengthening marriage strengthens the Philippines.
The wisdom of our Philippine Constitution mandates our legislators to “strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution,” and to protect the “inviolable social institution” of marriage as “the foundation of the family.” This wisdom has been confirmed by robust social science research that shows that the institution of marriage benefits society in a number of ways:(1)
- High quality committed relationships
- Greater happiness
- Better health, physical and mental
- Greater wealth
- Improved parenting ability
2. Divorce will add to our country’s problems rather than solve them.
Our country should learn from the experience of other countries who have introduced divorce. The researches cited above show the effects of divorce in society:
- More crimes and child abuse
- More suicides and premature deaths of children
- More health problems and more depression
- More poverty
All the above entails additional cost for the government. Research has shown that if the US government pledged to reduce family breakdown by just one percent, taxpayers would save around $1.1 billion dollars each year.
3. Effective solutions to marriage problems exist or can be developed.
A common reason given by divorce advocates is to give a second chance to happiness for people in an unhappy marriage. However, empirical research shows these:
- Divorcees are not happier.(2)
- Divorcees tend to have greater failure in next marriages.(3)
Given all the above, it important to look for solutions to marriage problems which do not entail destroying the very institution that makes the family and the whole country strong and happy:
- Declaration of nullity and improvement of laws in this regard. The government has to improve and facilitate the process for this declaration of nullity.(4)
- Therapeutic separation for couples in gravely intolerable situation(5)
- Effective marriage preparation
- Effective marriage therapy(6)
- Legislation to support the responsibilities of marriage:(7)
- Tax deduction for each new child
- Improved leave benefits for father and mother with new born children.
- Humane housing standards to accommodate larger families.
- Flexible minimum wage to adjust to additional children.
- Financial support for the education of children.(8)
- GSIS and SSS benefits to support children.
The time of our government will be better spent if legislators implement our constitution by strengthening marriage and the family, and protecting them from harm, so as to make our country stronger: more committed, happier, healthier, wealthier and more productive.
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(1) Why Marriage Matters, Twenty-Six Conclusions from the Social Sciences (2005): http://americanvalues.org/catalog/pdfs/why_marriage_matters2.pdf; Patrick F. Fagan and Aaron Churchill, The Effects of Divorce on Children (2012): http://marri.us/wp-content/uploads/The-Effects-of-Divorce-on-Children.pdf
(2) Linda J. Waite, Don Browning, William J. Doherty, Maggie Gallagher, Ye Luo, and Scott M. Stanley, Does Divorce Make People Happy? Findings from a Study of Unhappy Marriages (2002): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237233376_Does_Divorce_Make_People_Happy_Findings_From_a_Study_of_Unhappy_Marriages; http://americanvalues.org/catalog/pdfs/does_divorce_make_people_happy.pdf
(4) Please see the article of Atty. Cristina Montes and Fr. Jaime Achacoso: https://opinion.inquirer.net/112023/trusting-church-wisdom-void-marriages
(5) https://www.gottman.com/blog/do-trial-separations-work/
(6) https://www.apa.org/research/action/marital; https://www.jstor.org/stable/584995?seq=1
(7) With inputs from Professor Linda Valenzona of the University of Asia and the Pacific.
(8) https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1081563
Download the one-page leaflet for mass distribution here.
The leaflet can be found in the Pro-Life Philippines page here.
Photo credits: Anton Diaz at Flickr
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