REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

6TH JUDICIAL REGION
BRANCH 32
ILOILO CITY

JOHN JOEL FUENTES,

Petitioner,
CIVIL CASE NO. 88-10228

- versus - For: Declaration of Absolute

Nullity of a Void Ab Initio
Marriage under Art. 36 of
the Family Code of the
Philippines

GELINE SAMILLANO-FUENTES,
Respondent.
X----------------------------------------------X

PETITION

COMES NOW Petitioner, through the undersigned counsel, and

unto this Honorable Court, most respectfully states that:
1. Petitioner JOHN JOEL FUENTES is a Filipino, of legal age,
married and a resident of Guanco St. Sto. Domingo, Arevalo, Iloilo
City, Philippines, where all legal notices may be sent; while
Respondent GELINE SAMILLANO-FUENTES, is a Filipino, of legal
age, married and a resident of Guanco St. Sto. Domingo, Arevalo,
Iloilo City, Philippines, where she can be served summons and all
legal notices and processes of this Honorable Court. Attached hereto
is the Certification dated September 26, 2015 issued by Barangay
Sto. Domingo, Arevalo, Iloilo City as ANNEX “A” and is made an
integral part of this Petition;
2. Both parties to this petition were married on 10 AUGUST
2009, before Rev. Fr. Jesse T. Tabobo, Jr., Officiating Priest, Parish
of St. Anne, Molo, Iloilo City. The marriage was registered with the
Office of the Local Civil Registrar, City of Iloilo, Province of Iloilo,
under Registry Number 2009-123 and with Marriage License
Number 0001587 issued on 6 June 2009 at Iloilo City. Petitioner was
twenty one (21) years old and Respondent was just twenty (20) years
old when both got married on 10 August 2009. Copy of the said
Certificate of Marriage, issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO)

1
is hereto attached as ANNEX “B” and is made an integral part of this
Petition;
3. The property regime governing the marriage of the parties
herein is that of ABSOLUTE COMMUNITY OF PROPERTIES, there
being no marriage settlement and/or pre-nuptial agreement entered
into before their marriage;
4. During their marriage, parties were very lucky to have a son
named: RYAN SAMILLANO FUENTES (RYAN, hereafter), who was
born on 2 MAY 2010 at Iloilo Doctors Hospital, Iloilo City, Philippines.
Attached hereto as ANNEX “C” is the NSO copy of the Certificate of
Live Birth of said Ryan Fuentes, under Registry No. 2009-4087 and
is made an integral part of this petition;
6. Petitioner is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at
the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City and currently a Human
Resource Officer at Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc.; while
Respondent is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Nursing of the
same University, unemployed;
7. Friends at a party introduced petitioner and respondent in
January 2008 during the highlight of Iloilo’s Dinagyang festivities. The
parties immediately took a liking to each other and petitioner
thereafter courted respondent. They became a couple a week after.
From the time of their courtship, petitioner noticed a lot of selfish
tendencies on the part of the respondent. She has a high sense of
self-entitlement, is manipulative and usually disregards the feelings of
the petitioner even though such behaviour hurts him. Nevertheless,
petitioner soldiered on because of her love for respondent;
8. Petitioner and respondent got married on August 10, 2009 at
St. Anne’s Parish in Molo, Iloilo City. They spent their honeymoon at
a luxurious resort in Boracay and were able to consummate their
marriage. After their first night together, no further relations happened
between the petitioner and respondent;
9. Respondent discovered her pregnancy a month after their
marriage was consummated. Petitioner was so happy with the news
and tried very hard to show his love for respondent by showering her
with gifts and compliments. All throughout the pregnancy, respondent
spent lavish amounts shopping for herself and for some of the baby’s
needs. Petitioner supported her but noticed how respondent enjoyed
the attention given to her because of her condition. In the course of
her term, petitioner attempted to have sexual relations with her but
she refused complaining that pregnancy makes it difficult for her to
engage in such activities. Petitioner understood and so did not push
for it while she was pregnant;
10. Respondent gave birth to a baby boy on May 2, 2010. Six

2
months after the birth of their son, petitioner asked respondent to
have sexual relations with her but she refused on the ground that she
still feels sore and uncomfortable due to her giving birth. Petitioner
understood but tried to ask every month thereafter which respondent
still continued to refuse for a variety of reasons;
11. In the course of their marriage, Petitioner observed that
respondent was lazy, irresponsible and immature. Respondent went
to sleep late in the evening after playing mahjong with her friends and
woke up in the afternoon. Primary care of their son was left with the
hired caretakers of the family. Respondent would also ask a lot of
shopping allowances from petitioner and would usually tease him with
the promise of a physically gratifying reward should he give him what
she wanted. Petitioner always gives in because of his love for his wife
despite the fact he knows no physically gratifying reward would be
given to him;
10. The lack of physical intimacy in their marriage resulted to
the development of feelings of rejection, frustration and unhappiness
on the part of the petitioner. Although they shared a same bed, all
sexual advances of petitioner were still being refused by the
respondent. This also led to frequent marital spats between petitioner
and respondent that were often observed by their neighbour and
family friend Yong Custodio as well as their young son, Ryan.;
11. As an attempt to address their strained relationship, both
petitioner and respondent underwent marriage counselling on
October 22, 2015 with Dr. Justicia Barrios, MD, DBP, FPPA, clinical
psychologist and psychiatrist. Despite their counseling sessions,
respondent still refuses to have sexual relations with the petitioner;
12. This continued rejection of the respondent made the
petitioner finally decide to file for a petition to declare his marriage
with respondent null and void;
13. Petitioner underwent Psychiatric Evaluation with Dr. Justicia
Barrios as the evaluating psychiatrist and that in the said evaluation it
showed the presence of NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
on the part of the RESPONDENT. This personality disorder is
described in the criteria of the DSM V Diagnostic Criteria for
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders 5th Edition text revision-a standardized American
classification of mental diseases), seen below:

“DSM-V DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR

NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
A pervasive pattern of GRANDIOSITY (in fantasy or
behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy,

3
 beginning by early adulthood and present in a
variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of
the following:
1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g.
exaggerates achievements and talents, expects
to be recognized as superior without
commensurate achievements);
2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited
success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love;
3) believes that he or she is “special” and unique
and can only be understood by, or should
associate with. Other special or high-status
people (or institutions);
4) requires excessive admiration;
5) has a sense of entitlement i.e., unreasonable
expectations of especially favorable treatment or
automatic compliance with his or her
expectations;
6) is interpersonally exploitative i.e., takes
advantage of others to achieve his or her own
ends;
7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or
identify with the feelings and needs of others;
8) is often envious of others or believes that others
are envious of him or her;
9) shows arrogant, haughty behavior or attitudes;
*1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 were criteria noted in the
respondent.” (Emphasis Ours). (Psychiatric
Report dated June 23, 2016, Dr. Justicia Barrios
which is hereto attached as ANNEX “D” and is
made an integral part of this Petition);
14. In view of the above-said psychiatric evaluation, the
respondent was found to have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder,
described by the DSM V Criteria. The Narcissistic Personality
Disorder made respondent extremely self-centered and self-absorbed
due to parental background during her phase of personality
development that led to her severe behavioral problems before and
during the marriage. This personality disorder has no specific cure
and therefore permanent. This personality disorder is also grave
and serious because it is developmental defect that is persistent and
unchanging. The Narcissistic Personality Disorder made the
respondent unable to perform her responsibilities in marriage to
love, care, respect and support her husband;
15. Considering the above-described personality disorder of
respondent, Dr. Justicia Barrios made the following

4
recommendations, to wit:
“Remarks and Recommendations:
In view of the foregoing psychiatric evaluation, the
respondent is found to have a personality disorder
of the Narcissistic type, with prominent
manifestation of extreme self-centered behavior.
This Narcissistic Personality Disorder made her
grandiose, self-absorbed and irresponsible. It has
no specific cure. This Narcissistic Personality
Disorder is also grave and serious because as a
developmental disorder, it tends to persist and
generally cannot render the individual to change. It
affected her capacity to love, care and support her
spouse.
The petitioner was not found to have any
personality disorder. He did her role in this
marriage. However, it was the Narcissistic
Personality Disorder of the respondent that made
her decide to leave him.
Having found that the respondent has Narcissistic
Personality Disorder, the petition for nullity of
marriage is highly recommended. The petitioner can
pursue a healthy marital life in the future. The child
can also be spared from further clashes at home
that can affect his personality development.”
Attached hereto is the Resume/Curriculum Vitae
of Dr. Justicia Barrios as ANNEX “E” and is made
an integral part of this Petition;
16. Moreover, respondent miserably failed to observe mutual
love and respect towards petitioner so that there is an urgent need for
this Honorable Court to declare the marriage between the parties
NULL AND VOID, otherwise, both parties will be unnecessarily
exposed to continuous pain and sufferings;
17. The Local Civil Registrar of Iloilo City, should likewise be
ordered by this Honorable Court to cause the cancellation of the
subject marriage among the lists of the registered marriage recorded
thereto as soon as the subject marriage be declared NULL AND
VOID.
PRAYER
WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed of
this Honorable Court that judgment be rendered as follows:
1. Declaring the marriage between JOHN JOEL FUENTES,

5
petitioner and GELINE SAMILLANO-FUENTES, respondent,
solemnized on 10 AUGUST 2009 solemnized by Rev. Fr. Jesse T.
Tabobo, Jr., Officiating Priest, Parish of St. Anne, as evidenced by
Certificate of Marriage with Registry Number 2009-123 as NULL
AND VOID;
2. Directing the Local Civil Registrar Iloilo City, Province of
Iloilo, to record or annotate in the official records the judgment of this
Honorable Court declaring the marriage between petitioner and
respondent as NULL AND VOID;
3. To issue an Order for the sole custody of RYAN FUENTES;
4. Other reliefs and remedies that may be deemed proper and
just.
Iloilo City, October 2, 2016.

GIAN C. BERMUDO
TRINIDAD BERMUDO AND ASSOCIATES
Counsel for the Petitioner
RD
3 Floor Manfred Building, General Luna St., Iloilo City Poper, Iloilo
City
IBP ID No. 941490/ January 12, 2014/ Iloilo City
PTR No. 4678017/ January 12, 2014/ Iloilo City
Attorney’s Roll No. 8811
Email address: trinidad.bermudo.associates@gmail.com
Tel. No. (033) 3372254; 3372256
MCLE COMPLIANCE NO. IV-0005184/ 03/20/2014