More Pinoy couples seeking annulment despite high cost

(Updated 12:58 p.m., April 5) Are happy-ever-afters becoming rarer in the Philippines? The number of marriage annulment and nullity cases filed in the country has been steadily rising for the past eight years, with an average of 28 couples seeking to have their marriages declared null and void per day in 2012, records from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) showed. A total of 10,528 annulment cases were brought before the OSG last year, or over 1,000 cases more than the 9,133 filed in 2011, government records obtained by GMA News Online revealed. Last year's figure was almost double the number of marriage dispute cases filed a decade ago. In 2002, a total of 5,250 couples sought to have their marriages annulled or nullified. Gabriela Women's party-list Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan said the rising trend in marriage annulment and nullity cases in the Philippines indicates that more and more marriages have reached the point of no return in the country. “Wala namang ibang recourse para matapos ang problematic marriages dito sa bansa kundi ang annulment. Dahil walang ibang options, doon lang nakatutok at patuloy ngang dumarami ang mga kaso,” Ilagan said in a phone interview on Thursday. Under Article 36 of the Philippines' Family Code, a marriage may be annulled due to lack of parental consent, force or intimidation, psychological incapacity, fraud and physical incapacity to enter the married state. Meanwhile, a marriage can be nullified when the grounds for union are void to begin with due to physical incapacity, or in the case of minors the absence of parental consent. Civil courts may grant annulments and nullity of marriage, while the Catholic Church can only declare nullity. Atty. Friedrick Lu, a family lawyer from Lu Mamangun and Juco Law Office, said others prefer nullity with the Catholic Church because they want to remarry under the same church. He noted that both government and church each settles nullity cases in recognition of church and state separation. “There's a reason why Philippine courts sees nullity of marriage, sinisigurado niya na the government which is supposed to be non-affiliated with any religion will be the one to decide on the legality of marriage,” Lu told GMA News Online by phone on Friday. Under the 1987 Constitution, the Philippines declared as one of its principles the recognition of the “sanctity of family life,” and vowed to “protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution.” Unhappy couples? Even in a country known for its close family ties, the rising trend of annulment and nullity does not mean more families are becoming unhappy, Lu said. “Kumbaga, may mga tao na kahit may ganyang options, it has nothing to do with happiness. Happiness and the law are two different things,” the family lawyer said. He noted too that it does not follow that there are more annulment or nullity cases because of easy options to get out of marriage, adding that more couples are just making the wrong choices. “Hindi dumadami ang annulment dahil maraming venues, because these are old avenues we're talking about. More couples are getting married right now without thinking of the consequences. Iniisip nila na okay lang lahat kung sa saka-sakaling hindi magkasundo,” Lu said. He said divorce is not an option for Filipinos in the absence of an enabling law, noting that it is different from annulment. “Ang divorce lang naman ay legal termination of a marriage after it has already been enacted or celebrated... Sa annulment, ang trato dyan, it is as if the marriage did not exist from the very beginning... Parang hindi nagkaroon ng kasal in the first place,” Lu said. 'Expensive, embarrassing experience' Ilagan, who represents the women's sector in Congress, said the rising number of marriage disputes also means that thousands of Filipino couples are willing to undergo an “expensive and embarrasing” legal process just to be able to nullify their marriages. “Kapag nagpa-annul ka, hahalungkatin buong buhay mo. This is a really painful experience, not to mention that it will eat up much of your time and resources,” she said. She added that based on the experiences of women who approached their group for help on annulment cases, a party to a case can spend from P300,000 to P1 million to nullify the marriage. “Kukuha ka ng abogado, tapos babayaran mo 'yung filing fees. Kapag psychological incapacity pa 'yung ground, kailangan mo pa ng psychologists and psychiatrists. Magastos talaga,” Ilagan said. Lu, meanwhile, said these cases on average cost over P75,000, including fees for a psychologist, court filing fee and professional dues. Cheaper in Church Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz said marriage nullity in the church could come cheaper at P15,000, sometimes even free especially for money-strapped couples. “Mas mahal magpakasal kaysa mag-declaration of nullity," he said in a separate phone interview. "Basta the party is not involved in the capactiy to pay the P15,000, so walang problema... Kung ano ang kaya nila ibigay.” Cruz is judicial vicar of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines' National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal. Couples whose marriages are nullified may then opt to marry in the same church, the former archibishop said, adding the church tribunal would not grant annulment since they respect the sanctity of marriage. “Sa Simbahan, walang annulment. The marriage from the start remains valid through out,” he added. GMA News Online tried to secure statistics on the number of nullity cases with the Church, but Cruz said they only give the report to the Vatican. Last resort For Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP's Commission on Family and Life, the high number of annulment cases poses a challenge to the Roman Catholic Church to further strengthen marriages. “Bagaman ang tumataas na bilang ng annulment cases ay nagpapakita na dumadami at lumalalim ang suliranin ng pag-aasawa, ang annulment procedure ay last resort lamang,” Castro said in a text message. “Ang pinakamahalaga pa rin ay ang paghahanda ng mag-iisang dibdib bago ikasal. Kasama dito ang lahat ng aspeto: espiritwal, moral, pisikal at pinansyal,” he added. The Roman Catholic Church considers marriage as one of its sacraments, but it allows marriages to be rendered “null and void... after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastic tribunal.” Once a marriage is nullified by the Church, it is declared to have “never existed,” and the parties are given the freedom to marry again. In the Philippines, a country of 96 million people, eight out of 10 Filipinos are Roman Catholics. Proposed alternatives Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, for his part, said it is high time to make the annulment process “more accessible” to Filipinos, especially to those who cannot afford its costs. “Napakahaba at napakagastos ng proseso ng annulment dito sa atin. Mga Sharon Cuneta at Kris Aquino lang ang nakaka-afford. Paano naman ang karaniwang Pilipino?” Colmenares said in a separate phone interview. The lawmaker filed in 2011 a measure to “simplify” the annulment procedure by giving the presumption that spousal violence, infidelity or abandonment already constitutes psychological incapacity. “Kapag binugbog ka, iniwan o ipinagpalit sa iba, psychological incapacity na iyon. Hindi na kailangan pa ng psychologist o psychiatrist para magpatunay. Hindi ka na gagastos at mapapabilis pa 'yung kaso,” Colmenares said. For Ilagan, however, it is already time to consider legalizing divorce in the Philippines. She explained that unlike annulment, which considers the marriage as invalid, divorce terminates the marital union. “Kapag may divorce, hindi na magiging kasing mahal ang paghihiwalay. Hindi na kailangang mag-hire ng psychologist kasi may mga malinaw na kondisyon naman,” she said. In House Bill 1799, Ilagan and fellow Gabriela Rep. Emerenciana de Jesus proposed five grounds for divorce: de facto separation for at least five years, legal separation for at least two years, irreparable breakdown of marriage, psychological incapacity and irreconcilable differences. The Philippines is the only country in the world that has not yet legalized divorce. President Benigno Aquino III has said that the legalization of divorce in the country is “a no-no.” — KBK/HS, GMA News