After 15 years of physical and mental abuse Marita has taken her nine children and left her brutal husband.

In most countries, the mother would simply file for a divorce, but not in the Philippines. In this predominately Roman Catholic nation of 84 million people, divorce is not a legal option.

It is the last nation on earth, besides the tiny Mediterranean island state of Malta, where divorce is not legal.

And, like contraception, the issue is seldom openly discussed for fear of incurring the wrath of the Catholic Church which still holds considerable influence over the country’s politics and government.

But with a growing number of women demanding the right to divorce in the archipelago nation, the controversial subject is now back on the political agenda.

Left-wing congresswoman, Liza Maza, on Thursday published a bill for the legalisation of divorce, and in doing so ignited another bitter debate on the issue.

The last attempt to legalise divorce in the Philippines was made during the last Congress (2001-2004). Despite being well drafted the bill died on the Congress floor without a vote.

The Church is already on the counter attack describing Maza’s bill as "antiwomen".

Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a past president of the Catholic Bishops Conference on the Philippines, was quoted recently saying that divorce "strikes at the social standing" of women in the country.

Women’s groups, however, see the church’s views on divorce as being outdated and out of step with the realities of life in the 21st century.

Last year Chile, after a bitter eightyear fight by the Catholic Church, managed to overturn a 120-year-old ban on divorce. Ireland, another staunch Catholic nation, legalised divorce in 1997 while Spain managed to change its law in 1981.

The Philippines is now braced for a similar battle.

Manuel Colayco, writing in the Ateneo Law Journal, said:

"The Filipino people still live in a male-dominated, family-centred culture that lays a heavy emphasis on respecting family ties and on duties owed to family members, and this is reinforced by the family-orientated thrust of Philippine law.

"The Catholic Church still heavily influences politics and government and, as a result, family and marriage laws reflect values espoused by the Church."

All attempts to change the law on divorce in the Philippines have failed and no one is under any illusion about the prospects of the current bill now before Congress.

A spokeswoman for Congresswoman Maza said:

"Divorce is never an easy subject to deal with and the drafters of the bill recognise this. But because similar moves have failed in the past doesn’t mean we should not keep on trying.

"Society in this country is still pretty much male dominated but women are slowly starting to make their voices heard especially when it comes to issues such as divorce."

She said the bill is not like legislation in the United States where "quickie" divorces are the norm.

"Our bill takes into account the unique nature of Philippine culture."

Even so, church and conservative groups are opposing any attempt to alter the status quo in the Philippines.

The Family Code of the Philippines provides for a legal separation or annulment, due to "psychological incapacity", of a marriage, but not divorce.

Under current law, legal separation does not nullify the couple’s marriage and neither can they remarry.

An annulment allows a separated couple to remarry but it has stringent requirements, is costly and takes a long time before it can be granted.

According to figures by the Office of the Solicitor General, there were 4,520 annulments granted by the courts last year.

For its part, the church last year granted 32 annulments with a further 84 pending.

ProLife Philippines opposes any legal divorce saying, "divorce in the so called more advanced countries has destroyed the meaning of their marriage, destroyed their families, and has negatively impacted their children ... marriage has been reduced to the level of legalized fornication."

Emmi de Jesus, secretary general of the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations in the Philippines, the country’s biggest women’s group, said, "Of course we will support the proposed divorce bill. But we will not be making any strong public statements in support.

"You have to understand that the Church still holds considerable sway over the people. Any attempt for even the minimum of public discussion will be met with a conservative backlash. It has happened to us on a number of occasions.

"Some of the campaigns against us have been quite malicious ... we were seen as being anti God."

De Jesus said women in the Philippines still have a long way to go before they catch up with women in developed countries.

"But you are seeing more and more women no longer opting for marriage and all the trimmings.

"With such a high level of poverty women are economically bound to loveless and often brutal marriages."

A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations group two years ago found that 36 percent of the population agreed with divorce up from 21 percent in 2001.

Carolina Ruiz-Austria, a lawyer and executive director of the Women’s Legal Education, Advocacy and Defence Foundation, said there was a desperate need for the law to be amended.

"Legal annulments are very costly and women who can afford it go down that road," she said.

"A medium-sized law firm can charge anything from 50,000 pesos to 100,000 pesos (about 890 dollars to 1,780 dollars) and on top of that, you have the expensive psychologist reports.

"But this is not an avenue open to the vast majority of people in the Philippines because they simply do not have the money," RuizAustria said.

"Whether this bill succeeds or not, there will be others. The point is divorce is still a work in progress in this country."