BACCAY V. BACCAY
G.R. No. 173138, [December 1, 2010]
DOCTRINE:
The phrase “psychological incapacity” is not meant to comprehend all possible cases of psychoses.
FACTS:
Noel and Maribel were schoolmates turned sweethearts. Noel considered Maribel as the snobbish and hard-to-get type. Maribel was also snobbish around his family. Noel tried to break up with Maribel. However, Maribel refused. Noel and Maribel still continued to see each other only on a friendly basis. They failed to keep their meetings friendly as they had several romantic moments together. Noel took these episodes of sexual contact casually since Maribel never demanded anything from him. After a while, Maribel informed Noel that she was pregnant. Noel grudgingly agreed to marry Maribel. Noel and Maribel agreed to live with Noel’s family. Maribel remained aloof and did not go out of her way to endear herself to them. Maribel refused to contribute to the household expenses. She also refused to have any sexual contact with Noel. Despite Maribel’s claim of being pregnant, Noel never observed any symptoms of pregnancy in her and this was confirmed by Maribel’s officemates. One day, Maribel told Noel and his family that she had a miscarriage. Noel confronted her about her alleged miscarriage, which escalated into an intense quarrel. Maribel left Noel’s house and did not come back. Noel tried to communicate with Maribel but he failed. After less than two years of marriage, Noel filed a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage. Despite summons, Maribel did not participate in the proceedings.
The RTC rendered a decision in favor of Noel. The RTC found that Maribel failed to perform the essential marital obligations of marriage, and such failure was due to a personality disorder called Narcissistic Personality Disorder characterized by juridical antecedence, gravity and incurability as determined by a clinical psychologist.
On appeal by the OSG, the CA reversed the decision of the RTC. The CA ruled that Maribel’s Narcissistic Personality Disorder is not the psychological incapacity contemplated by law. Her refusal to perform the essential marital obligations may be attributed merely to her stubborn refusal to do so. Also, the manifestations of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder had no connection with Maribel’s failure to perform her marital obligations. Noel having failed to prove Maribel’s alleged psychological incapacity. Finally, Maribel’s misrepresentation that she was pregnant to induce Noel to marry her was not the fraud contemplated under Art. 45(3) as it was not among the instances enumerated under Art. 46.
Noel contends that the CA failed to consider Maribel’s refusal to procreate as psychological incapacity. He argues that making love for procreation and consummation of the marriage for the start of family life is different from “plain, simple and casual sex.” He points out that Maribel’s psychological incapacity was proven to be permanent and incurable with the root cause existing before the marriage. The psychologist testified that persons suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder were unmotivated to participate in therapy session and would reject any form of psychological help rendering their condition long lasting if not incurable.
The OSG maintains that Maribel’s refusal to have sexual intercourse with Noel did not constitute psychological incapacity under Art. 36 as her traits were merely mild peculiarities in her character or signs of ill-will and refusal or neglect to perform her marital obligations.
ISSUE:
Whether the marriage is null and void under Art.36.
HELD:
No. The marriage is valid.
RATIO:
The phrase “psychological incapacity” is not meant to comprehend all possible cases of psychoses. It refers to no less than a mental incapacity that causes a party to be truly non cognitive of the basic marital covenants that concomitantly must be assumed and discharged by the parties to the marriage which, as expressed by Art. 68, include their mutual obligations to live together, observe love, respect and fidelity and render help and support. The intendment of the law has been to confine it to the most serious of cases of personality disorders clearly demonstrative of an utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the marriage.
The following are guidelines in resolving petitions for declaration of nullity of marriage, based on Art. 36:
(1) The burden of proof to show the nullity of the marriage belongs to the plaintiff. Any doubt should be resolved in favor of the existence and continuation of the marriage and against its dissolution and nullity.
(2) The root cause of the psychological incapacity must be
(a) medically or clinically identified, (b) alleged in the complaint, (c) sufficiently proven by experts and (d) clearly explained in the decision. Art. 36 requires that the incapacity must be psychological – not physical, although its manifestations and/or symptoms may be physical.
(3) The incapacity must be existing at “the time of the celebration” of the marriage.
(4) Such incapacity must also be shown to be medically or clinically permanent or incurable. Such incurability may be absolute or even relative only in regard to the other spouse, not necessarily absolutely against everyone of the same sex. Furthermore, such incapacity must be relevant to the assumption of marriage obligations.
(5) Such illness must be grave enough to bring about the disability of the party to assume the essential obligations of marriage. The illness must be shown as downright incapacity or inability, not a refusal, neglect or difficulty, much less ill will.
The essential marital obligations must be those embraced by Articles 68 up to 71 of the Family Code as regards the husband and wife as well as Articles 220, 221 and 225 of the same Code in regard to parents and their children.
(7) Interpretations given by the National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, while not controlling or decisive, should be given great respect by our courts.
(8) The trial court must order the prosecuting attorney or fiscal and the Solicitor General to appear as counsel for the state. No decision shall be handed down unless the Solicitor General issues a certification, which will be quoted in the decision, briefly stating therein his reasons for his agreement or opposition, as the case may be, to the petition.
In this case, the totality of evidence presented by Noel was not sufficient to sustain a finding that Maribel was psychologically incapacitated. Noel’s evidence merely established that Maribel refused to have sexual intercourse with him after their marriage, and that she left him after their quarrel when he confronted her about her alleged miscarriage. He failed to prove the root cause of the alleged psychological incapacity and establish the requirements of gravity, juridical antecedence, and incurability. The report of the psychologist, who concluded that Maribel was suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder traceable to her experiences during childhood, did not establish how the personality disorder incapacitated Maribel from validly assuming the essential obligations of the marriage. Indeed, the same psychologist even testified that Maribel was capable of entering into a marriage except that it would be difficult for her to sustain one. Mere difficulty is not the incapacity contemplated by law.
The burden falls upon petitioner, not just to prove that private respondent suffers from a psychological disorder, but also that such psychological disorder renders her truly incognitive of the basic marital covenants that concomitantly must be assumed and discharged by the parties to the marriage. Psychological incapacity must be more than just a “difficulty,” a “refusal,” or a “neglect” in the performance of some marital obligations. An unsatisfactory marriage is not a null and void marriage.
Article 36 of the Family Code is not to be confused with a divorce law that cuts the marital bond at the time the causes therefor manifest themselves. It refers to a serious psychological illness afflicting a party even before the celebration of the marriage. It is a malady so grave and so permanent as to deprive one of awareness of the duties and responsibilities of the matrimonial bond one is about to assume.
