House leader calls for passage of anti-marital infidelity bill

MANILA – A leader of the House of Representatives on Friday pushed for the immediate passage of the anti-marital infidelity bill, which seeks to provide the same penalty on sexual infidelity regardless of whether the act is committed by the male or female spouse.

House Deputy Speaker Eddie Villanueva made the call as he welcomed the initiative of the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership to crack the whip on policemen who engage in extramarital affairs.

PNP Chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar’s initiative to protect the interest of Filipino families by sanctioning marital infidelity is a policy in the right direction, Villanueva said, noting that the anti-marital infidelity bill would complement the PNP’s effort.

“I would like to commend PNP Chief Guillermo Eleazar for denouncing marital infidelity among the members of our national police,” Villanueva said. “It will not only restore the respect and moral ascendancy of our policemen, but it will also save our law enforcers from a lifestyle which causes and forces them to commit acts of corruption.”

He noted that denouncing marital infidelity would lead the police away from committing an act that is “abominable to God.”

Eleazar has warned policemen who have mistresses that having extramarital affairs is a violation of their code of ethical standards, saying he would not hesitate to impose sanctions against them if allegations are proven to be true.

Meanwhile, CIBAC Party-list Rep. Domeng Rivera said marital infidelity is a serious problem in our society that breeds more complicated social issues.

“The lack of virtue and value for the family, which the lax anti-infidelity provisions in the Revised Penal Code is actually a root cause of more serious social woes besetting the Filipino community today – from broken families to corruption in the government. We should act now to fix this problem,” Rivera said.