Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 17) — Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill seeking "absolute divorce" in the Philippines.

Senate Bill No. 2134 or "Divorce Act of 2018" aims to protect the well-being of couples — especially the wife — and children from irremediably broken marriages.

"It has been well-documented that the absence of divorce law has disproportionate effects on women who are more often the victims of abuse within marriages... Studies likewise show that it is not divorce that creates well-being issues for children, it is bearing witness to the troubled marriages of their parents," Hontiveros wrote in the bill she filed in December 2018.

Under the bill, absolute divorce can be obtained under the following conditions: physical abuse happens or a "grossly abusive conduct" is exhibited, psychological incapacity, irreconcilable marital differences despite efforts to reconcile, marital rape, and separation for at least five years, among others.

It will also penalize the spouse found to have used force or intimidation to compel the other spouse to file the petition.

The Senate has yet to tackle the bill on the committee level.

The House of Representatives under the leadership of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has approved the Absolute Divorce Bill. Under the bill, an absolute divorce is judicially pronounced after a permanently broken marital union or marriage.

President Rodrigo Duterte in April 2018 stood firm against divorce.

A survey conducted in early 2018 showed that half of adult Filipinos believe divorce for spouses who are irreconcilably separated should be legalized.

The Philippines and the Vatican are the only two countries in the world with no divorce law.