WORLD : ‘Mail-Order Brides’ Outlawed

President Corazon Aquino today signed a bill banning the “pernicious trade” in mail-order brides, which she said insults national pride and breaks the hearts of young women and their families.

Aquino hailed the new law’s prohibition of the “commerce in women under the guise of legitimate marriage.”

The measure outlaws the “solicitation or inducement” of Filipino women to become members of any club or association whose objective is to match women for marriage to foreign nationals--either on a mail-order basis or through personal introductions for a fee.

Sen. Ernesto Maceda, sponsor of the new law, said he was spurred to action by the “alarming rate” of battered Filipino wives married to foreign nationals through the mail-order bride business.

Any foreigner convicted under the new law faces the same fine and jail time, plus deportation.