THE HOUSE-approved Divorce Bill has finally been transmitted to the Senate after being put on hold since last month for corrections on the tally of votes at the plenary.
House Secretary General Reginald S. Velasco initially deferred the transmission of House Bill (HB) No. 9349 after being approved on final reading on May 22 with an initial result of 126 affirmative votes, 109 negative votes, and 20 abstentions.
Mr. Velasco issued a correction of votes a day after the Lower Chamber’s approval, increasing the number of affirmative votes to 131 with no changes to the “no” votes and abstentions.
“This means that the transmittal to the Senate will not wait for the plenary action of the House when the sessions start on July 22, 2024, as previously announced by Velasco,” Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman said in a statement, noting that the corrected tally did not change the outcome of the bill’s approval. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
