Filipinos’ approval of the institution of absolute divorce in the Philippines

Executive Order No. 209, Family Code of the Philippines, Article 1 Chapter 1 stipulates that “Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal family life.” In the Philippines, the question of whether or not divorce should be legalized is still a contentious political topic. Divorce brings up social and moral duties as well as concerns (Gloria 2007). According to the results of a study done by Social Weather Stations on March 25-28, 2017 and December 8-16, 2017, 53% of Filipinos agreed that divorce should be legalized in the country (Cudis 2019). Filipino acceptance of adopting divorce in the Philippine family code has risen steadily over the last few years, from 43% in 2005 to 60% in 2014 (Abalos 2017).