MANILA — Sen. Robin Padilla said his divorce bill would protect families, despite the expected flak it would draw from conservative Filipinos.

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During a Facebook live on Sunday, Padilla, a newbie senator, noted the resistance of many Filipinos to discuss and even entertain the idea of finally having a divorce law in the Philippines.

The Philippines and the Vatican City are the only 2 states that have no divorce law.

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"Ito pong panukala na ito nagbibigay ng proteksyon, unang-una sa mag-asawa, sa babae, lalaki at sa kanilang mga magiging anak," said Padilla.

(This bill will give protection, first of all to the couple, both the woman and man, and their would-be children.)

He continued, "Sabi nga po nila, baka daw itong panukala na ito ang sisira doon sa kasal. Hindi po. Itong panukalang ito ang nagbibigay proteksyon doon sa kasal na masakit man pong sabihin ay sira na."

"Minsan may mga bagay po talaga na talagang nakasulat na hindi kayo para sa isa’t isa... Papaano naman ‘pagka dumating na talaga iyong para sa iyo at ikaw ay nakatali na? Edi ang lungkot, ‘di ba? Kaya dapat, sabi nga nila, everybody deserves a second chance," said the lawmaker.

(They say this bill will destroy marriage. No. This will protect marriages that have long been broken. Sometimes you are really not meant to be together. What if the one meant for you comes when you are already tied to someone else? Sad, isn't it? That is why, as they say, everybody deserves a second chance.)

Citing 2017 data from Social Weather Stations (SWD), Padilla said 53 percent of Filipinos are actually in favor of divorce.

Padilla also cited 2017 Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showing that 1 in 4 women experience physical, sexual, and emotional violence from their partner.

Under Padilla’s proposed divorce law, the husband or the wife can file a petition to dissolve their marriage under the following circumstances:

• Upon conviction of an under offense under Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004
• Attempt by the respondent against the life of a common child or a child of the petitioner
• Having a child with another person other than one’s spouse during the marriage, except when upon the mutual agreement of the spouses, a child is born to them in vitro or a similar procedure, or when the child is a product of rape
• When either of the spouses has no capacity to perform the essential marital obligation of the marriage and the incapacity continues and appears to be incurable
• When there is an existing irreconcilable marital difference
• When a spouse obtained a divorce abroad
• When a spouse is presumed dead under the Civil Code of the Philippines

Under the measure, a petition for divorce can also be filed when either party got married below 21 years old but without the parental or guardian’s consent; are of “unsound mind”; and the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, force, intimidation or undue influence.

The bill also allows divorce petitions when either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage; when one appears to have an incurable sexually-transmittable disease, and when there is physical violence involved; drug addiction; lesbianism; sexual infidelity; threat to the life of either party, and abandonment.

Padilla’s bill also pushes for the right to divorce if the spouses are already separated for 2 years and when the couple is already legally separated.

"A 6-month mandatory cooling-off period after the filing of the petition for divorce shall be observed before the competent court may start the trial of the said petition during which the court shall exercise all efforts to reunite and reconcile the parties," the bill stated.

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Meanwhile, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa admitted his personal anti-divorce stand.

"Ako’y devout Catholic talaga at as much as possible ayokong mag-divorce yung mag-asawa. Pero pakiramdaman ko muna sa mga dadating na hearing, kung talagang ma-mount yung support sa divorce ng tao, maybe I will go for it," Dela Rosa said in an earlier phone interview.

(I am a devout Catholic and as much as possible, I do not want couples to get a divorce. But I will monitor the next hearings, if public support for divorce mounts, maybe I will go for it.)

But like Padilla, Sen. Risa Hontiveros also filed her own version of the divorce bill.

“Divorce is becoming no less than a human rights and a women's rights issue. Napakadami sa ating mga kababayan ang hindi makaalis sa mapangabusong at mapanakit na mga relasyon. Dumarami rin ang humihingi ng second chances sa ating lipunan. Everybody deserves that second chance,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

(Many of our kababayans cannot leave abusive and hurtful relationships. More and more are asking for second chances in our society.)

—Report from Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News