Bill providing for stiffer penalties on mail-order spouse services up for PNoy's approval

A bill penalizing individuals engaged in mail-order spouse services through traditional mail or online means for profit is now awaiting President Benigno Aquino III’s approval after the two houses of Congress agreed on its final version before adjourning sine die on June 6.
The proposed Anti-Mail Order Spouse Act provides for stronger measures against unlawful practices, businesses, and schemes of matching and offering Filipinos to foreign nationals for purposes of marriage of common law partnership.
Its enactment into law will repeal the existing Republic Act No. 6955, also referred to as the Anti-Mail Order Bride Law, which only prohibited matching a Filipina bride with a foreign husband through traditional mail.
Under the approved measure, it shall be unlawful for any person to match or offer a Filipino to a foreign national for the purpose of marriage or common-law partnership with the intent of making a profit from the scheme.
Specifically, the bill prohibits matchmaking for profit through mail-order, personal introduction, email or websites.
Exempted from the bill’s coverage are legitimate dating websites which are aimed at connecting individuals with shared interests in order to cultivate personal and dating relationships.
Should the measure be signed into law, any individual found guilty of engaging in mail-order spouse services will face a 15-year jail time and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P1 million.
Any person who shall abet or cooperate in violating the law will suffer the same penalty.
If the prohibited act is committed by a syndicate or committed on a large scale, the offender shall suffer a 20-year imprisonment and a fine of P2 million to P5 million.
A syndicate is deemed to have engaged in mail-order spouse services if the modus is carried out by a group of three or more persons conspiring or confederating with one another. The prohibited act is deemed committed on a large scale if committed against three or more persons, individually or as a group.
Any person who has knowledge of the commission of the unlawful acts and profits from it or assists the offender in profiting from it shall be punished as an accessory even if he or she has no direct involvement in violating the law. The offense shall be punishable with a 10-year imprisonment and a fine of P100,000 to P500,000.
If the offender is a foreigner, he or she shall be immediately deported after serving the sentence and payment of fine. He or she shall also be banned for entering the country forever.
Should corporations, clubs, establishments or similar entities are found to have violated the measure, the penalty shall be imposed upon the owner, president, partner, manager, or any responsible officer who participated in the commission of the prohibited acts or who shall have knowingly permitted or failed to prevent its commission.
The court may also suspend or revoke the license or permit to operate in the Philippines of the advertising agency, newspaper and magazine publisher, television or radio station, Internet websites, or other entities who commit any of the prohibited acts. —Xianne Arcangel/KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more