Senate bill seeks tougher rules on foreigners marrying Pinays

Jobless foreigners and those convicted  of crimes would not be able to marry Filipinos if House bill 4828 becomes law. It aims to protect Filipino women against exploitation of foreigners who marry without evident means to support a family.

As reported by the Philippine Star, the author of the bill Cebu Representative Gwendolyn Garcia said "some of the the foreigners coming to the country to marry Filipino women are vagabonds or social and moral derelicts in their own country.  The real  motive for marriage is only to take advantage and exploit our women by making them work for the family and worse, by sending them to prostitution and other degrading and dehumanizing occupations. The exploitation of our Filipino women, through the so-called mail-order of pen-pal, Facebook, website made, and other internet made marriages, has not only caused untold miseries and suffering to our Filipino women but it has also brought dishonor and disgrace to the Filipino womanhood."  

House Bill 4828 which substituted House Bill 2387 was approved on it's second reading.  It seeks to amend Article 21 of Executive Order 209 otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines. Rep. Garcia is hopeful that it would be approved on the third and final reading.  

HB 4928 mandates the prospective foreign husband to provide a certificate of good moral character and a certificate that he has a gainful trade, business, employment or other lawful source of income to be issued by his country's diplomatic or consular official, in addition to the usual certificate of legal capacity to marry.

An update of the bill is reported by ABS-CBN dated August 10, 2015.