Albeit viewed through a 16th-century European lens, Pigafetta’s eyewitness account revealed how precolonial women enjoyed sexual autonomy. She could inherit and own property, engage in commerce, and divorce her husband. By Any Other NameThe costliest among the losses a Filipino woman still endures today is the Catholic ban on legal divorce. Without legal divorce and its financial obligations, like state law-mandated child support and alimony (spousal support), men feel unencumbered to leave or take on another relationship. Sadly, the informally separated single mother who remains married to her absentee husband is too busy to even ask to be counted.