YAMBAO V. REPUBLIC AND YAMBAO
GR. No. 184063 [January 24, 2011]
FACTS:
Petitioner Cynthia Yambao (hereinafter petitioner wife) filed a Petition for Declaration of Nullity of her marriage with respondent Patricio Yambao (hereinafter respondent husband) after 35 years of marriage. She invoked the ground of psychological incapacity pursuant to Article 36 of the Family Code.
Petitioner wife alleged that since the beginning, her marriage with the respondent husband had been marred by bickering, quarrels, and recrimination due to the latter’s inability to comply with the essential obligations to married life. She elaborated by saying that through all the years of their married life, she was the only one who earned a living and took care of the children and that respondent husband just ate and slept all day and would spend time with friends. In addition, she claimed that respondent husband would venture into several businesses but all of these failed. Respondent husband was also a gambler. Petitioner wife also claimed that, when their children were babies, respondent did not even help to change their diapers or feed them, even while petitioner was recovering from her caesarean operation, proffering the excuse that he knew nothing about children. Later, respondent husband became insecure and jealous and would get mad every time he would see petitioner talking to other people, even to her relatives. When respondent husband started threatening to kill petitioner, she decided to leave the conjugal abode and live separately from him. She then consulted a psychiatrist who concluded that respondent was indeed psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations.
Respondent husband denied that he has refused to work. He claimed that he had been trying to find a decent job, but was always unable to because of his old age and lack of qualifications. He also claimed that he did not stay long in the jobs he had because the same could not support the needs of his family, and yielded benefits that were not commensurate to the efforts he exerted. He had ventured into small businesses but they failed due to various economic crises. Respondent further claimed that he was not, in fact, contented with living with petitioner’s relatives since his every move was being watched with eagle eyes. He also denied that he gambled. He alleged that even without a steady source of income, he still shared in the payment of the amortization of their house in BF Homes, Parañaque City. He also denied that he threatened to kill petitioner, considering that there was never any evidence that he had ever harmed or inflicted physical injury on petitioner to justify the latter having a nervous breakdown. He further alleged that he never consulted any psychiatrist, and denied that he was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential obligations of marriage.
RTC dismissed the petition for lack of merit holding that petitioner wife’s evidence failed to support her argument that respondent husband was indeed psychologically incapacitated to fulfill his marital obligations. Thus:
• The court said that, even as petitioner claimed to be unhappy in the marriage, it is incontrovertible that the union lasted for over thirty years and the parties were able to raise three children into adulthood without suffering any major parenting problems.
- The court also noted that respondent was faithful to petitioner and never physically abused her.
- Likewise, when the parties lived with petitioner’s parents, respondent got along well enough with her family.
• The court recognized that respondent did indeed have many faults, such as his indolence and utter irresponsibility. However, the RTC said, respondent’s failure to find decent work was due to his not having obtained a college degree and his lack of other qualifications. Likewise, respondent’s failure in business could not be entirely attributed to him, since petitioner was a business partner in some of these ventures.
• RTC also rejected the supposed negative effect of respondent’s Dependent Personality Disorder. The RTC said that, although the evidence tended to show that respondent would unduly rely upon petitioner to earn a living for the family, there was no evidence to show that the latter resented such imposition or suffered with the additional financial burdens passed to her by her husband.
• The RTC concluded that while respondent might have been deficient in providing financial support, his presence, companionship, and love allowed petitioner to accomplish many things. Thus, respondent could be relied on for love, fidelity, and moral support, which are obligations expected of a spouse under Article 68 of the Family Code.
• Lastly, the RTC rejected petitioner’s claim that she suffered through respondent’s overbearing jealousy. It found that respondent only became jealous when he thought that petitioner was cheating on him. The RTC determined that jealousy was not a character trait that contributed to respondent’s psychological dysfunction; much less did it amount to psychological or mental torture on petitioner.
On appeal, the CA affirmed the decision of the RTC. It held that:
- Petitioner failed to show that respondent was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential obligations of marriage
- Petitioner exerted efforts to find a source of income to support his family. However, his failure to find a suitable job and the failure of his business ventures were not mental but physical defects and, hence, could not be considered “psychological incapacity” as contemplated under the law.
- The fact that the parties lived together for 35 years and raised three children well, and the fact that respondent never physically abused petitioner belied the former’s psychological incapacity.
- The respondent’s refusal to care for the children was not psychological incapacity but “merely constituted refusal to perform the task,” which is not equivalent to an incapacity or inability.
• It rejected petitioner’s allegation of respondent’s unbearable jealousy. It said that the same must be shown as a manifestation of a disordered personality which would make respondent completely unable to discharge the essential obligations of the marital state. The CA averred that a jealous attitude simply evinced respondent’s love for his wife, whom he could not bear to lose to another man.
- The the purported threats to kill petitioner is an “emotional immaturity” and not psychological incapacity.
- Lastly, the CA found the report of expert witness Dr. Edgardo Juan Tolentino (Dr. Tolentino) to be unsupported by sufficient evidence since the findings therein were not corroborated by any other witness. Moreover, the CA said, neither the report nor petitioner’s testimony established that respondent’s psychological condition was grave enough to bring about the inability of the latter to assume the essential obligations of marriage, so that the same was medically permanent or incurable.
ISSUE:
WON the totality of petitioner wife’s evidence establish respondent’s psychological incapacity to perform the essential obligations of marriage?
HELD:
No.
RATIONALE:
In Santos v. Court of Appeals, the Court held that psychological incapacity must be characterized by (a) gravity (b) juridical antecedence, and (c) incurability. These guidelines do not require that a physician examine the person to be declared psychologically incapacitated. In fact, the root cause may be “medically or clinically identified.” What is important is the presence of evidence that can adequately establish the party’s psychological condition.
The intendment of the law has been to confine the application of Article 36 to the most serious cases of personality disorders clearly demonstrative of an utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the marriage. Thus, for a marriage to be annulled under Article 36 of the Family Code, the psychologically incapacitated spouse must be shown to suffer no less than a mental (not physical) incapacity that causes him or her to be truly incognitive of the basic marital covenants. 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.
In this case, there is no showing that respondent was suffering from a psychological condition so severe that he was unaware of his obligations to his wife and family. On the contrary, respondent’s efforts, though few and far between they may be, showed an understanding of his duty to provide for his family, albeit he did not meet with much success. Whether his failure was brought about by his own indolence or irresponsibility, or by some other external factors, is not relevant. What is clear is that respondent, in showing an awareness to provide for his family, even with his many failings, does not suffer from psychological incapacity.
Article 36 contemplates incapacity or inability to take cognizance of and to assume basic marital obligations and not merely difficulty, refusal, or neglect in the performance of marital obligations or ill will. This incapacity consists of the following: (a) a true inability to commit oneself to the essentials of marriage; (b) this inability to commit oneself must refer to the essential obligations of marriage: the conjugal act, the community of life and love, the rendering of mutual help, the procreation and education of offspring; and (c) the inability must be tantamount to a psychological abnormality. It is not enough to prove that a spouse failed to meet his responsibility and duty as a married person; it is essential that he must be shown to be incapable of doing so due to some psychological illness.
That respondent, according to petitioner, “lack[ed] effective sense of rational judgment and responsibility” does not mean he is incapable to meet his marital obligations. His refusal to help care for the children, his neglect for his business ventures, and his alleged unbearable jealousy may indicate some emotional turmoil or mental difficulty, but none have been shown to amount to a psychological abnormality. Moreover, even assuming that respondent’s faults amount to psychological incapacity, it has not been established that the same existed at the time of the celebration of the marriage.
Furthermore, as found by both RTC and CA, respondent never committed infidelity or physically abused petitioner or their children. In fact, considering that the children lived with both parents, it is safe to assume that both made an impact in the children’s upbringing. Still, the parties were able to raise three children into adulthood “without any major parenting problems,” and such fact could hardly support a proposition that the parties’ marriage is a nullity.
