Divorce in this country is like

reproductive health: It’s

available, but only to the
rich. The Reproductive Health
Law was finally passed way
back in 2012, but it
languished in judicial limbo,
and mililons of poor Filipino
women are still waiting for
its full implementation.
Lawmakers who feared a
Church backlash at the polls
for supporting the RH Law
Found out that their fears
were baseless. This
realization surely played a
role in the passage of the
divorce bill by an
overwhelming, number of
congressmen the other day.
Undoubtedly, political will
helped, even if powered by
personal interest; Speaker
Pantaleon Alvarez has made
no secret of his desire to get
out of his desire to get out of
his broken marriage and take
his affair with his inamorata
to the next level. A number of
his colleagues may also have
personal reasons for
supporting divorce. Alvarez
had once asked aloud: who
doesn’t’ have a girlfriend?