The OSG appreciates the inclusion of its report on the increase in annulment of marriage cases filed in our courts to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines which came out in your March 27, 2011 edition. It must be emphasized however that the said report was released upon the request of the CBCP for the OSG statistics on annulment of marriage cases. Its publication was purely upon the initiative of the CBCP.
The OSG, however, would like to correct some misimpressions that may have been caused by said report and on the inputs provided therein by Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, head of the CBCP National Matrimonial Tribunal.
There is no disagreement with Archbishop Cruz’s comments that there is a difference between a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage which is void ab initio, that is, void from the beginning and petition for annulment of marriage while a petition for annulment pertains to marriages which are valid and subsisting until annulled provided under specific provisions of the Family Code.
Also, it must be stressed that the intervention of the OSG is governed by the rules under A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC otherwise known as the “Proposed Rules on Declaration on Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages” in petitions for declaration of nullity of marriage and/or annulment of marriage is mandatory. The State, though not impleaded as a party thereto, has an interest to protect the inviolability of the marital bonds.
It is not true, however, that the OSG has not contested decisions in nullity/annulment of marriage cases. There are decisions therein that the OSG has filed motions for reconsideration and appeals, as the case may be.
The decision to appeal a decision is based upon the merits of the case. To appeal a decision granting a petition is not the automatic or knee jerk reaction thereto. It would be unfair for parties with clearly meritorious cases to have their cases appealed simply because their petition was granted. It would not be the interest of substantial justice to do so. It would merely prolong the agony of the parties who simply want to move on from a clearly disastrous marriage.
We hope to have clarified some of the matters raised by Archbishop Cruz who we hold in high esteem not only for the advocacies he has fought for and involved in but also for his integrity, dedication, and sincerity of heart.