Just a few weeks ago I heard the news about a certain women’s party list group's proposal to Congress stating that marriage contracts should have expiration dates (they’re proposing a term of ten years, to be specific). At first, I thought the idea was ridiculous. My traditional, old-fashioned, romantic side tells me: “hey, marriage is supposed to be sacred. You can’t just undermine marriage which is "not just a mere contract but an inviolable social institution”, as our Civil Code defines it. However, after pondering about it, my practical , independent and modern side also tells me that the group also has a valid point. The proponents said a 10-year expiration on marriages would give couples the opportunity to review their relationship, and decide whether to continue or not with the union. After all, it is not unheard of in this country that many incompatible married couples who would almost kill each other on a day- to -day basis would just grin and bear it just for the sake of sparing themselves from expensive and arduous legal proceedings.
I know that the only thing constant in the world is change and that laws should be constantly updated to cater to our society’s ever changing needs. Hence, our laws on evidence (we already have our electronic evidence and DNA evidence rules), intellectual property, transportation, sales and property have evolved since. But what about marriage? Unlike ICT, marriage (at least in most countries) is already an institution. It is the foundation of our most basic social unit. Is putting an expiration date really the solution to a sucky, torturous marital relationship?
I’d like to think that this so called “expiration” feature would liberate abused wives whose lives are being tormented by their husbands and who could not have their marriage annulled/declared void due to financial constraints. But the issue does not end there. How about the possibility of abuse? How about the children? How about the protection of the family’s integrity? How about the fact that the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation? Of course, I’m for the separation of the church and the state. But hey, you can’t deny such fact.
I guess I’m still old fashioned after all.
(Eighth entry)
Sources:
http://www.mb.com.ph/node/238018/marriage-with-expiration-date-anyone
http://www.frazzledpastor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/BrokenMarriage.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment