Married women may use their maiden surname in their passport

Dear PAO,

My parents are married, but my father left my mother almost a decade ago. Since then, my mother has refrained from leaving the country because she does not want to use her passport, which bears my father's surname. His abandonment has deeply affected her emotionally and psychologically, and even seemingly simple matters, like her passport surname, are significant to her. But I was told by a colleague that married women now have the option to revert to their maiden surname. Is this true? I thought our laws only allow married women to revert to their maiden surname if their marriage has been annulled or a divorce has been validly obtained abroad. If my colleague is correct, this would be great news for me because I have been wanting to travel abroad with my mother. I want her to experience new adventures as my way of thanking her for raising me as a single parent.