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The Philippine Lawyer – GROUNDS FOR THE ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGES IN THE PHILIPPINES

-Ferdie Aguirre

(About the writer: G. Ferdinand (Ferdie) Aguirre has more than 20 years of combined experience as a legal professional in the Philippines and in Canada. After graduating from the Ateneo de Manila College of Law in 1987 and passing the Bar given that year, he has held the following positions in the Philippine Corporate world: Asst. Senior Vice President of the Philippine National Bank, Senior Manager of the Law Division of the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company and as Chief Legal Counsel of Unibancard. His private practice included having successfully handled several major cases and being included in the Philippine case books. Ferdie Aguirre was also a professor of Political Science and Business Law before migrating to Ontario Canada in 2005 where worked as a Paralegal. He is presently a Court Agent & a Commissioner for Oaths in Alberta and is now working on his admission to the Alberta Bar. Ferdie Aguirre may be reached at (403) 6131168 /(403) 4747168 or at [email protected])

GROUNDS FOR THE ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Evelyn and Delfin were married in the Philippines. After two years together, they realized that their combined earnings was barely enough to support themselves let alone their plans of having children. With such a bleak future awaiting them, Evelyn decided to resign from her work as a public school teacher and work as a domestic helper in Hong Kong. The couple hoped that they can save enough money to finance Delfin’s plan to put up his own automotive shop and the small pre-school that Evelyn dreamed of putting up in their growing community.

Despite their separation, everything went well for the first two years mainly because Evelyn was able to get an employer who has a manufacturing business in the Philippines. Having a very jealous and possessive wife, Evelyn’s employer was forced to bring his entire family to the country so she could check up on his “activities”. Being the nanny of her employer’s only child, Evelyn was of course included in these trips. On her third, year abroad, Evelyn was offered a job in Canada as a caregiver where aside from having the opportunity to earn more, she can have the chance to file for permanent residence and bring Delfin there. The only downside of this is that Evelyn would not be able to see Delfin for at least a year. Difficult as it may seem, Evelyn accepted the offer despite Delfin’s protests.

After a year of total separation, Evelyn noticed that Delfin’s emails and telephone calls have become shorter and farther apart, in addition whenever she calls; Delfin was always out of the house even at odd hours. An email from a very close friend and neighbour confirmed Evelyn’s fears. Delfin was already living with another girl and to make matters worse, she was informed that the girl was pregnant with Defin’s child. A confrontation with Delfin on the phone resulted to Delfin not only confirming her friend’s story but even blaming her for situation.

Furious, Evelyn decided to call a lawyer friend in the Philippines to ask if she could file a case for the annulment of their marriage on the grounds of infidelity.

EVELYN WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET HER MARRIAGE ANNULLED IN THE PHILIPPINES
Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines provides the grounds on which a marriage in the Philippines can be annulled.
Art. 45. a marriage may be annulled for any of the following causes, existing at the time of the marriage:
(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage annulled was eighteen years of age or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage was solemnized without the consent of the parents, guardian or person having substitute parental authority over the party, in that order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife;
(2) That either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to reason, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(3) That the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(4) That the consent of either party was obtained by force, intimidation or undue influence, unless the same having disappeared or ceased, such party thereafter freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(5) That either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage with the other, and such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable; or
(6) That either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease found to be serious and appears to be incurable. (85a)
Unfortunately for Evelyn, Art. 45 of The Family Code of the Philippines only states 6 grounds by which the court can annul a marriage. Infidelity is not one of them.
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(Legal Disclaimer: This article is designed for general information. The information presented at this site should not be construed to be neither formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. )

The Philippine Lawyer – GROUNDS FOR THE ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGES IN THE PHILIPPINES

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