Marcos to study divorce, political dynasty bills

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

July 4, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos will study the bills seeking to legalize divorce, prohibit political dynasties and regulate minors’ internet use, Malacañang said yesterday, as lawmakers filed their priority measures during the first week of the 20th Congress.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said Marcos has not expressed his stance on the measures, but gave an assurance that the President would support those that are beneficial to the nation.

On the divorce bill, Castro said the President has to see first the provisions of the measure, noting that even the Church allows annulment if a couple can no longer stay together.

“Let us see if it is good for the people. But it would be better, and that is also what the President wants, if we strengthen the good relations among couples and resolve their problems... not only for their sake but also for their children,” she said.

With regard to the bill seeking to regulate minors’ use of the internet to safeguard their mental health, Castro said the President would back it if it is advantageous to the youth.

Asked for Marcos’ position on the anti-political dynasty bill, Castro said it would depend on the provisions of the measure.

As senators resumed their filing of priority pieces of legislation as the 20th Congress kicked off, Sen. JV Ejercito got the coveted spot of Senate Bill No. 1 in his proposal to restore the state insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)’s P74.4-billion subsidy that was defunded in this year’s budget.

This amount was supposed to be the subsidy in the 2025 budget, but was removed by Congress due to the controversy involving PhilHealth’s P89.9 billion “reserve funds” that was remitted to the National Treasury, a subject of a petition assailing the move before the Supreme Court.

Ejercito said the sought subsidy will go to the payment of premium contributions of indirect contributors and their dependents, indigents, senior citizens, unemployed persons with disability, financially incapable point-of-service patients, and beneficiaries under the PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn Program and for the improvement of benefit packages under the Universal Health Care law.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa has filed bills seeking to amend the party-list system; reinstating the death penalty for large-scale illegal drug trafficking; and making the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in colleges and universities mandatory again.

Also yesterday, Senate President Francis Escudero renewed his call for Congress to pass his refiled bill, which mandates all public officials and employees to waive their bank secrecy rights under Republic Act 1405, or the Law on the Secrecy of Bank Deposits, and RA 6426, or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.

Other bills filed

The Makabayan bloc filed a bill yesterday seeking to set aside an amount equivalent to six percent of the gross domestic product for the annual budget of the Department of Education.

The Akbayan party-list is set to file a bill to strictly regulate online gambling, imposing firm age restrictions on platforms and removing access to e-wallet services like GCash and Maya, often used to easily fund online bets.

Bukidnon 2nd district Rep. Jonathan Flores has filed his proposed Anti-Online Online Gambling Promotions in E-Wallets Act together with four other House members.

He also filed his Anti-Political Dynasty bill which seeks to limit local political families to only one candidate from among close relatives in local elections, including for district representative.

United Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Milagros Magsaysay has refiled the Universal Social Pension Bill for the 20th Congress granting a monthly stipend of P500 to all senior citizens, 60 years old and above. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab,  Jose Rodel Clapano, Jun Elias