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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Sunday, October 22, 2017
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MANILA – House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has filed a bill seeking to legalize civil union among same-sex and heterosexual couples.
House Bill No. 6595, or the “Civil Partnership Act,” allows consenting adults of either the same or opposite sex to form a civil partnership with the benefits and protections granted to spouses in a marriage.
“While there has been greater acceptance to minority groups, it is notable that our country has not made sufficient strides in providing some of the most basic civil rights to couples who are not eligible for marriage under the law,” Alvarez said.
Couples cannot enter into a civil partnership unless they are at least 18 years old and free from any previous bond of marriage or civil partnership, the bill stated.
According to Alvarez, the measure provides that couples shall govern property rights and custodial rights over children, and even adoption rights for couples who cannot produce a child.
“Properties acquired by couples while they live together are presumed to be obtained through joint effort and governed by co-ownership rules, unless proven otherwise,” the House speaker said.
“Civil partnership couples are allowed to adopt children as long as they meet legal qualifications but only when there are no married couples willing to adopt the child or if the child belonged to one of the partners,” he added.
Meanwhile, Alvarez said, the bill provides the following grounds for the dissolution of the civil partnerships: legal separation, annulment and declaration of nullity of marriage.
Other authors of the bill were Geraldine Roman, Raneo Abu, Frederick Abueg, Len Alonte-Naguiat, Sandra Eriguel, Gwendolyn Garcia, Sharon Garin, Victoria Isabel Noel, and Eric Singson./PN
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