Curable and impermanent

Romantic episodes usually end up in marriage where the spouses live happily ever after, but not in this case of Manny and Linda.

Manny and Linda were schoolmates who were introduced by a mutual friend and became close to each other. Linda’s snobbish and hard-to-get attitude attracted Manny and so he continued to court Linda until they became sweethearts several years later.

Manny’s family was aware of their relationship as he used to bring Linda to their house to attend family gatherings and other festive occasions like birthdays, Christmas and fiesta celebrations. But Linda was inordinately shy and whenever she attended those occasions with Manny’s family, she was aloof or snobbish. Not once did she try to get close to any of Manny’s family members. And when Manny would talk to her about her attitude, she would promise to change but she never did.

So after about two years of being sweethearts, Manny decided to break up with Linda, especially because he was already involved with another woman. Linda, however, refused and offered to accept Manny’s relationship with another woman so long as they would not sever their ties. To give Linda some time to get over their relationship, Manny still continued to see her, although on a friendly basis.

Despite the efforts to keep their meetings on a friendly basis, Manny and Linda had several romantic moments together that usually end up in sexual intercourse. Manny took these episodes casually since Linda never demanded anything from him except his company. But a year later Linda informed Manny that she was pregnant with his child. Upon advice of Manny’s mother, Manny grudgingly agreed to marry Linda. So they were immediately wed before a Metropolitan Trial Court Judge of their place.

After the marriage ceremony, Manny and Linda agreed to live with Manny’s family in their house. But during all the time she stayed there, Linda remained aloof and did not go out of her way to endear herself to them. She would just come and go as she pleased and never contributed to the family’s coffer, leaving Manny to shoulder the expenses for their support. Also, she refused to have any sexual contact with Manny.

When Manny did not notice any symptoms of Linda’s pregnancy despite her claim of being pregnant, Manny asked Linda’s officemates whether she manifested any signs of pregnancy. And they confirmed that she showed no such signs. Then about three months after their marriage, Linda did not go home for a day. And when she came home, she told Manny and his family that she had a miscarriage and was confined at a hospital where her sister worked as a nurse.

Manny continued to confront her about her alleged miscarriage and their discussions escalated into an intense quarrel, which woke up the entire household. Manny’s mother tried to intervene but Linda shouted invectives at her, prompting the latter to drive them out of the house. Linda called her parents who picked her up. She left Manny’s house and did not come back. Manny tried to communicate with her but when he went to her house, nobody wanted to talk to him and she rejected his phone calls.

After less than two years of marriage, Manny filed a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage with the Regional Trial Court. Despite summons, Linda did not participate in the proceedings. The RTC proceeded to hear the petition after the public prosecutor manifested that no collusion existed between the parties. The Office of the Solicitor General also did not submit any certification manifesting agreement or opposition to the case.

After trial, the lower court found that Linda failed to perform the essential marital obligations due to psychological incapacity characterized by juridical antecedence, gravity and incurability. The court relied heavily on the testimony of a clinical psychologist who found that Linda had a narcissistic personality disorder, a very insecure person, emotionally immature with an exploitative attitude particularly in terms of financial rewards and entered into the marriage not because of emotional desire for it as she viewed it merely like a piece of paper and that she can easily get rid of her husband without any provocation. So, it declared Manny and Linda’s marriage null and void. Was the RTC correct?

No. Both the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Supreme Court (SC) held that Manny failed to establish that Linda’s supposed narcissistic personality disorder was the psychological incapacity contemplated by law and that it was permanent and incurable. The CA and the SC rejected Manny’s argument that Linda’s senseless and constant refusal to have sex with him after they got married for purposes of procreation is enough proof of her psychological incapacity. These attitudes were merely mild peculiarities in character and signs of ill will and refusal or neglect to perform marital obligations. As Manny admitted, he had numerous sexual relations with Linda before their marriage. So, it cannot be said that Linda is incapacitated to perform this particular obligation and that such incapacity existed at the time of marriage. Manny’s evidence merely established that Linda refused to have sexual intercourse with him after their marriage and that she left him after their quarrel when he confronted her about the alleged miscarriage.

Psychological incapacity is not meant to comprehend all possible cases of psychoses. It refers to no less than a mental (not physical) incapacity that causes a party to be truly non-cognitive of the basic marital covenants to live together, observe love, respect and fidelity and render help and support. It must be more than just a difficulty, a refusal or neglect to perform the essential marital obligations. Article 36 of the Family Code should not be confused with divorce law that cuts the marital bond when causes arise during the marriage such as irreconcilable differences (Baccay vs Baccay, G.R. 173138, Dec. 1, 2010).