“Representative Rozzano Rufino Biazon (Muntinlupa City), author of House Bill 216, stressed the need for couples intending to marry “to be properly educated on the rigors of marriage to enable them to cope with the challenges they will face everyday for the rest of their lives.” Biazon said that with the increasing number of failed marriages, mandatory counseling prior to the issuance of a marriage license is very important.
Biazon said pre-marriage counseling should be made mandatory for all marrying couples, not only for those between ages 18 and 25 who need either parental consent or advice in applying for a marriage license. “It is well for everyone to remember and realize that married life is not a bed of roses. It requires understanding between husband and wife maturity in dealing with problems that they will surely encounter, and willful effort on the part of both spouses to make it successful,” Biazon said.
Biazon also asked the help of the social welfare department and religious groups in the crafting of a national standard curriculum for pre-marriage counseling. During a recent hearing of the house committee, executives of government agencies and a non-government organizations has endorsed the early passage of the bill.
Hannibal Galang of the social welfare department said the measure would boost the effort of the department to help prevent failed marriages. Representatives of the Pro Life Philippines suggested that aside from a priest, imam or minister lay pastoral care providers should also be authorized to issue a certificate attesting that the contracting parties have already undergone marriage counseling. The bill will amend Article 16 of the Family Code of the Philippines.”
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