The Philippine Government is seeking to block the Canada-based extramarital dating site Ashley Madison in the conservative country on charges that it facilitates crime.
The Canada-based firm, which has the slogan: “Life is short. Have an affair”, recently launched their website in the Philippines, where the population is largely Roman Catholic and divorce is illegal.
“The website is a platform that allows illegal acts to be eventually committed. A ban may be enforced,” Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said in an SMS statement, referring to Ashley Madison.
Adultery and “concubinage,” are punishable by at least six months in jail under Philippine law.
De Lima stressed that “adultery” also remains against the law in the Philippines, even though it has largely been un-enforced and is a country where many powerful men flaunt their mistresses.
She said: “The (telecommunications companies) will have to do their part to ensure that illegal content and websites that are used to drive illicit conduct are not used,” she said.
De Lima did not specify if they could be compelled to block the website.
Local press reports say that at least 2 500 Filipinos have already signed up to the website since its recent launch.
Singapore and South Korea have previously banned Ashley Madison, citing that it threatened family values. 
But the 12-year-old site is reportedly going strong in Catholic and Muslim countries abroad. With the success of such television series like “The Legal Wife” and “Two Wives,” the people behind Ashley Madison expect the Philippines to become one of their top five markets.
In an interview with the New York Observer, Noel Biderman, CEO of Ashley Madison described himself as one of the “most important feminists that the world has seen’
“It’s really sad that there are places on Earth where a woman could be put to death for being unfaithful,” Noel Biderman said. “But they still do it.”
Based in Toronto, Canada, and currently operating in 44 countries around the globe— Biderman Ashley Madison will launch next month in Turkey, marking its foray into a Muslim majority country.
“Infidelity is happening [in Muslim countries] anyway,” Biderman said. “In the Muslim world, I can provide women the opportunity to have discreet affairs and not risk their marriages, or something more severe,” he said ominously.
Slated to launch publicly in Turkey in December, Ashley Madison soft-launched in the country a little over two weeks ago. According to stats provided by a publicist for Ashley Madison, the site has already has signed up 15,000 members. 63 percent of those new sign-ups have been female, which is a record for the site in any country. Additionally, 97 percent of the new sign-ups identify as Muslim.
Ashley Madison is also known for its survey on extra-marital preferences in cities worldwide.
In one of its more recent media releases, 
AshleyMadison.com, said Vancouver’s Loden Hotel is the preferred safe-haven for the city’s more than 55,000 adulterers when hooking up close to home.
According to a recent survey of 3,216 members in Vancouver city, affair seekers prefer the luxury of the Loden Hotel, followed closely by the Shangri-La and the OPUS.
Here is their the full list of Vancouver’s top hotels for a risqué rendezvous:
Loden Hotel 12.6%
Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver 10.8%
OPUS Vancouver 9.5%
Fairmont Pacific Rim 8.1%
Westin Bayshore Vancouver 7.8%
Auberge Vancouver 7.3%
Hilton Vancouver Airport 6.7%
Rosewood Hotel Georgia 6.2%
L’Hermitage Vancouver 5.4%
Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre 4.6%
“It’s no surprise that many affairs in Vancouver are taking place in hotel rooms in the downtown core, away from the family home,” said Noel Biderman
“Many of the hotels on this list are not where people would normally stay on a typical family trip – people who have affairs tend to choose places that are more exotic, trendy or romantic.”
Further data from the survey includes:
23% of women and 27% of men use their lunch hour to partake in some afternoon delight.
58% of women and 55% of men prefer to have a hotel rendezvous shortly after 5pm on a weekday and use work as an excuse for why they are getting home late.
Only 5% of women and 7% of men can swing a sleepover with their affair partner.
Members tend to travel, on average, between 25 – 50km from home to meet up with their affair partner.