Title II — Legal Separation
Article 55
ELI5— what this means for you
Legal separation does not end a marriage — both spouses remain married and cannot remarry. But it allows them to live separately and divide their property. Grounds include: repeated physical violence or morally degrading conduct, drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, lesbianism or homosexuality, bigamy, sexual infidelity, an attempt against the life of the other spouse, abandonment for more than 1 year, and final conviction for a crime with imprisonment of more than 6 years.
Key point
Legal separation ≠ divorce. You stay married. The grounds are specific — general unhappiness is not enough.
Official text — EO 209
A petition for legal separation may be filed on any of the following grounds:
(1) Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner;
(2) Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation;
(3) Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or inducement;
(4) Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if pardoned;
(5) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the respondent;
(6) Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;
(7) Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad;
(8) Sexual infidelity or perversion;
(9) Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner; or
(10) Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year.
For purposes of this Article, the term "child" shall include a child by nature or by adoption. (9a)
Source: lawphil.net (EO 209 as amended)
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Legal disclaimer: BatasKo provides general legal information, not legal advice. For advice on marriage, annulment, property relations, custody, or support, consult a licensed Filipino lawyer or the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) at pao.gov.ph.