“An exploratory essay on right to marriage and family – Annulment as one of the issues in the

Philippines”

Men and women of marriageable age shall have the right to marry and to found a
family. Relationship, marriage, and family are important core in a community. The right to
marry and to found a family is a basic human right of all individuals to create a recognized union
between spouses and to establish family life. As a result, a set of more rights and obligations is
obtained for the spouses and/or their biological or adopted children. The right to marry and to
found a family has civil, religious, political, expressive and legal aspects involved in its complex
definitions.
Marriage is a way to create a family, and family is the most basic social unit upon which
society is built. According to Wikipedia, “marriage is the legally or formally recognized union of
two people as partners in a personal relationship” while “family is a group of persons united by
the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with
each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and
siblings.” Moreover, according to Family Code of the Philippines, “marriage is a special contract
of permanent union. Between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with. Law for the
establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the. Foundation of the family and an inviolable
social institution.”
According to Philippine Stastiscs Authority (PSA), the number of registered marriages in
2021 (as of September 30) reached 211, 247 lower than the total registered marriages of 240,
775 in 2020. Sociologist, Gerry Lanuza explained that “many Filipinos dream to be married in
Manila Cathedral with a extravagant ceremony. However, they don’t have enough money. So,
they opt to save money up till the time comes that they still haven’t save enough for it. Others
want marriage but they are saving for [the] future marriage even in a live-in set-up. “ Moreover,
the number of households in the Philippines in 2021 was forecasted to reach approximately
21.8 million, compared to 20.2 million in 2016.
The Family Code of the Philippines was enacted in 1987 to attune the legal framework
on marriage and family relations to contemporary developments and trends. Despite these
efforts to update the law, it still contains several provisions that undermine the equality of
women and men by giving primacy to the decision of the husband and/or father over that of
the wife and/or mother. Families are all around perceived as a significant wellspring of help and
security. They can give protected and stable conditions which support the development and
advancement of every part all through the various phases of life, from birth to advanced age.
Amending the Family Code of the Philippines to remove traces of inequality between
spouses with respect to their ability: to provide parental consent to marry, to administer their
community property or conjugal partnership, to exercise their parental authority over the
person and legal partnership over the property of common children. Also, family law
establishes rules and procedures for concluding and dissolving a marriage, rules and procedures
for deeming a marriage invalid. In addition, it avoids having conflict with each other, both men
and women, when having children out of wedlock.
One of the biggest issue that the Philippines facing today is annulment, it is a type of
dissolving a marriage in Philippines most of the reason of annulment are voidable because of
being helplessness or having incurable sexually transmitted disease some of voidable marriage
are due to minority or under age, lack of a marriage license, and psychological incapacity.
Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a
marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled
marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place
though some jurisdictions provide that the marriage is only void from the date of the
annulment. An annulment ends a marriage, but differs from divorce in important ways. If
marriage is essentially a contract, the difference between an annulment and a divorce is the
difference between declaring the contract null because, say, it was signed under conditions of
duress or fraud and terminating it. Although a marriage is not always avoidable, the law
provides grounds to have it declared invalid in cases of vitiated or diminished consent in
contracting the marriage.
There are types of grounds of Annulment: Absence of parental consent for the reason of
under age- a situation where one of the spouses, at the time of marriage, was over 18 years old
but less than 21 years old, and the parents of that spouse did not give their consent. Fraud-
non-disclosure of a previous conviction by final judgment of the other party of a crime involving
moral turpitude. Coercion, force intimidation or undue influence- In situations when consent in
marriage was obtained through force, intimidation or undue influence, the marriage is still
considered valid until a proper action for its annulment on such ground is filed, proven and
granted by the courts. Mental Illness or psychological incapacity- a personal condition that
prevents a spouse from complying with fundamental marital obligations toward a specific
partner and that may have existed at the time of marriage but became evident only through
behavior subsequent to the marriage ceremony. Physical incapacity- A party that enters into a
marriage and suffers an incurable physical disability. If a person cannot perform normal
copulation with the other party. The other party or injured party can state a claim for a nullity.
Sexually-transmitted-disease (STD) – in itself, is not a ground for nullity of marriage.
Thus, if your wife concealed from you the fact that she had an STD at the time of the
celebration of your marriage, you may utilize the same as your basis in seeking for the
annulment of your marriage. In the Philippines, spouses have the duties to live together,
observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support and these are
embodied under the Family Code of the Philippines. What if these duties are no longer
complied with?
There are 8 Steps to a Successful Annulment in the Philippines: STEP 1: READ UP ON THE
PROCESS OF Annulment. There are readily available materials online dealing with the process of
annulment. This will give you an idea of what you are getting into and the experiences of others
who have gone through the process. STEP 2: CHOOSE AN Attorney. The choice of an attorney or
lawyer is the most important part of the annulment process. Your choice will determine your
probable success and whether or not the legal services you are seeking would match your
financial budget and your timetable. STEP 3. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION. After the initial
consultation with your choice for an attorney and the signing of the contract, the next step
would be the psychological evaluation. In the Philippines, the ground for most annulments (or
more precisely, declaration of nullity of marriage) is psychological incapacity. STEP 4. THE
FILING OF THE Petition. After the written psychological evaluation is released by the
psychologist, your attorney will proceed to draft the petition which will be filed in court based
on the facts that he gathered from you during your initial consultation and the written
psychological evaluation. STEP 5. PRE-TRIAL AND COLLUSION Investigation. During the pre-trial
process, the judge will limit the issues involved in the case and may direct the parties to also
submit to a mediation to determine if they can agree on certain preliminary issues like support,
custody, or visitorial privileges. STEP 6. Trial. A trial of an annulment case normally involves
three (3) main witnesses, the Petitioner (you), the psychologist, and a corroborating witness (a
friend or relative who knew the couple while they were married and has first-hand knowledge
of the break-up). All witnesses will be subject to the cross-examination of the prosecutor. STEP
7. THE Decision. If your annulment is granted, the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) through
the Public Prosecutor can file a motion for reconsideration and appeal the case to the Court of
Appeals. If this happens, the annulment does not become final and you will have to wait next
for the decision of the Court of Appeals. STEP 8. ANNOTATION WITH THE CIVIL REGISTRAR’S
Office. If the annulment is granted, the Office of the Civil Registrar in the place where the
marriage took place has to annotate the decision of the court so anyone can check if the
marriage was truly rendered null and void. The entire process can take anywhere from six
months to four years, depending on the court’s calendar. After the initial consultation and
contract signing between you and your chosen attorney, your petition will be prepared.
The cost of Annulment in the Philippines are: The total cost of annulment in the
Philippines is somewhere in between Php 200,000 and Php500,000 – assuming that the
annulment goes uncontested. If either party challenges the case, the costs can balloon to a
million or so. The first cost component is the lawyer’s acceptance fee, which ranges from Php
100,000 to Php 200,000. Some might charge up to Php 500,000. The next cost component is the
psychological evaluation – the professional fee, costs of the report and the psychologist’s
appearance fee in court can range from Php 20,000 to Php 50,000. In some cases, the costs can
balloon to Php 100,000.
Annulment declares that the marriage never happened. What are the two types of
annulment? Philippines has two different annulment procedures — one religious, the other
civil. People often confuse them. A civil annulment terminates your marriage and is granted by
a judge. When a judge grants a request for an annulment, it’s as if the marriage never
happened. It is actually under the grounds of Underage marriage,Bigamy,Mental
Incompetence,Failure to Consummate Marriage,and Fraud. The person applying for the civil
annulment must prove that the marriage was defective or invalid from the very beginning.
Which it also bears some resemblance to the process of having a marriage declared void, but
with a major difference. A void marriage can’t be restored under any circumstances because,
from a legal standpoint, the marriage never existed. Moreover, the religious annulment. In the
Catholic faith, a marriage can only be dissolved through an ecclesiastical annulment. This is a
declaration that a sacramental marriage was never truly created. In other words, the marriage
was fatally flawed from the very beginning and therefore doesn’t exist in the eyes of the
Church. If the annulment is granted, either party may then remarry in the Church. And it is
issued by a church or a religious tribunal, rather than a court. Specifically, the issuance of a
religious annulment by a church doesn’t guarantee that a judge will grant a civil annulment in
your case. Likewise, a church might not recognize a civil annulment obtained in a court of law.
And it is a choice made by some people when their beliefs or religion disfavor or disallow
divorce entirely. The Philippines bears the dubious distinction of being the last country in the
world outlawing divorce to the majority of its citizens. Unhappy married Catholic couples
wishing to live apart from each other only have options, it’s either they file an annulment,
separation without the court’s decision or stay like it’s the same.
If you are considering an annulment of your marriage it is important to understand the
process and the advantages and disadvantages it can have. The information about the pros and
cons of an annulment also known as a nullity. Advantages of an Annulment. There is no
minimum residence requirement. Unlike divorce, which typically requires a six-month residency
before a party can bring forward a petition for dissolution, there is no such requirement in
order to be granted an annulment. There is no required waiting period before being granted an
annulment. Divorce requires parties to wait six months after filing before a final judgment will
be entered. A judgment of annulment will terminate the marriage immediately. If an annulment
of marriage is granted under the theory of fraud then grounds may be established to ignore
interspousal property transactions that took place during the invalid marriage. Spousal support
and attorney fees are awarded to a party who is a putative spouse i.e., a spouse who has a good
faith belief that his or her marriage was actually valid but where in fact, the marriage was not
valid. If a party lacks this status they will not be awarded spousal support or attorney fees.
Disadvantages of an Annulment: Establishing the grounds for an annulment is more
difficult than the grounds for divorce. Issues or fault are highly probative in an annulment
proceeding. Unlike divorce, where fault is not an issue, in an annulment proceeding fault can
have a huge impact on how property is split, whether support is issued and how attorney fees
are paid. There is no per se community property. If either or both parties to the invalid
marriage believed in good faith that the marriage was legitimate, the court will classify the
property as quasi-marital property. This has the same effect as if the property were community
property. In order to be granted an annulment, the parties must appear in court.
 In an annulment, the couple must prove that either or both of them are psychologically
incapacitated. Infidelity, physical or mental abuse, and irreconcilable differences are not taken
into account in an annulment proceeding, and physical violence is not considered a sufficient
reason to annul a marriage. Women are worst affected by the lack of divorce legislation.
Representing 49.4 percent of the population but only 34 percent of the workforce, according to
statistics provided to News Deeply by the Philippine Statistical Authority, they are rarely the
breadwinners in a family. The majority rely on their husbands financially, and most are
reluctant to file for an annulment or legal separation because of the practical and financial
implications – separated women often find they can’t support their families. If they have no
conjugal assets to partition, the woman will definitely be at a loss once the marriage is severed,
because the obligation to give support also ends. In a typical year, civil courts will grant about
10,000 annulments, the office of the Solicitor General told News Deeply.
The Philippine Statistical Authority said that 6,304 petitions were filed to end marriages
in Manila in the first nine months of 2017, a 23 percent decrease on the year before, with
women filing slightly more than half of the petitions. But there has also been a 20 percent
decrease in reported marriages, they say, with younger generations opting for cohabitation
instead of an expensive celebration.
Philippines is the only country outside of Vatican City that do not allow for absolute
divorce. In one account of the proceedings of the Committee which came up with the Family
Code of the Philippines, it would seem that the annulment in the PH was a compromise
between the church and the Committee members, the intent being that the ground of
psychological incapacity for the nullity of a marriage should be interpreted restrictively and
should follow the lead of Canon Law. Annulment as a legal concept is not anathema to the
sacredness of the institution of marriage since the church allows the same based on certain
grounds. But the church taking into consideration than a marriage is made up fallible human
beings has allowed for a mechanism for the nullification of that marriage to pave the way for
the remarriage o the parties in the hope that given both parties to have a second chance.
Group Leader: Precious I. Olid
Group Members:
Laureen Garcia
Janile M Sapia-an
Ian Markpaul Salvatierra
Angelo James Bazar
Clint Jay Dela Cerna
Cathlyn Mae Balansag
Nate Manansala

References:
https://pcw.gov.ph/ensuring-womens-equal-rights-in-marriage-and-family-relations/
https://pcw.gov.ph/ensuring-womens-equal-rights-in-marriage-and-family-relations/
https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/womensadvancement/articles/2018/02/22/in-
philippines-where-divorce-is-illegal-women-pay-the-price
https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/womensadvancement/articles/2018/02/22/in-
philippines-where-divorce-is-illegal-women-pay-the-price
https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/womensadvancement/articles/2018/02/22/in-
philippines-where-divorce-is-illegal-women-pay-the-price
https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/womensadvancement/articles/2018/02/22/in-
philippines-where-divorce-is-illegal-women-pay-the-price
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/annulment-vs-divorce-30234.html
https://pcw.gov.ph/ensuring-womens-equal-rights-in-marriage-and-family-relations/
https://pcw.gov.ph/ensuring-womens-equal-rights-in-marriage-and-family-relations/
https://ndvlaw.com/how-to-file-for-annulment-in-the-philippines/