A petition of a former Filipino worker in Dubai to have his unsatisfactory marriage formally annulled, citing alleged “psychological incapacity” of her spouse, was rejected by the Court of Appeals (CA).
In a decision dated October 18, the CA stressed that psychological incapacity does not warrant any annulment.
The CA upheld the decision of the Manila court regarding the annulment case involving spouses named “John” and “Annalyn”.
The couple met in a bar in December 2013 through a friend, who was the latter’s boyfriend at the time. They met again at the same bar when they were already both out of a relationship.
This led to a whirlwind marriage. Months later, on June 4, 2014, they tied the knot before John left for a job in Dubai.
Merely two months, however, John returned to the Philippines and had a serious falling out with his wife. This prompted the filing of annulment on the grounds of her wife’s “psychological incapacity”. Its basis was not made public.
In its decision, the CA stressed that psychological incapacity is no ‘magic wand’ to dissolve a marriage.
It stated that “irreconcilable differences, sexual infidelity or perversion, emotional immaturity, and irresponsibility and the like, do not by themselves warrant a finding of psychological incapacity as these may only be due to a person’s difficulty, refusal or neglect to undertake the obligations of marriage that is not rooted in some psychological illness”.
“Though the court sympathized with the heartbreak and plight of John’s short-lived marriage, it should be remembered that Article 36 (on psychological incapacity) is not a magic wand that would disintegrate a constitutionally protected marriage. It is also not a divorce law that cuts the marital cord at the time the grounds for divorce manifest themselves,” it added.
The court said the couple may instead opt to obtain a legal separation.
