REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES v. LYNNETTE CABANTUG-BAGUIO
556 SCRA 711 (2008)
Psychological incapacity must be characterized by utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the marriage.
Respondent Lynnette Baguio (Lynnette) and Martini Baguio (Martini), a seaman working overseas, got married in 1997. The couple lived at Lynette‘s parents. Martini stayed there only on weekends and during weekdays, he stayed with his parents. Because of this, Lynette suggested that they lived with Martini‘s parents but the later disagreed.
Lynette later on noticed that every time the two of them talk, Martini would always mention his mother and his family. She therafter realized that Martini was a ―mama‘s boy.‖ On Martini‘s mother insistence, Martini‘s money was equally divided between her and Lynette. In 1999, when Martini returned from work, he stayed with his parents. Since then, Lynette had not heard from Martini and stopped receiving her share of the allotment, drawing her to inquire from Martini’s employer who told her that he had already disembarked. Lynette soon found out that he was in Muntinlupa.
When Lynette and Martini finally met, he informed her that they should part ways. The last time the two of them talked was at the airport when Martini was about to depart for abroad. Since then, Martini never communicated with Lynnette. On investigation, Lynnette learned that Martini declared in his employment records that he is “single” and named his mother as principal allottee. Hence, Lynette filed before Regional Trial Court of Cebu a Complaint for the Declaration of Nullity of Marriage on the ground of Martini‘s psychological incapacity to comply with essential marital duties and obligations under Articles 68-70 of the Family Code. The RTC found that Martini‘s being ―mama‘s boy‖ manifests his psychologically incapacity to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage, and that the same incapacity existed at the time the couple exchanged their marriage vows.
The Solicitor General challenged the RTC‘s decision before the Court of Appeals. The CA held that Lynette‘s oral deposition and the Psychological Evaluation Report of Dr. Gerong, a clinical psychologist, declaring Martini‘s psychological incapacity was sufficient proof that indeed Martini suffers psychological incapacity.
ISSUE:
Whether or not CA erred in declaring the marriage between Lynette and Martini null and void on the ground of latter‘s psychological incapacity
HELD:
Article 36 of the Family Code on which Lynnette anchors her complaint provides that “[a] marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage, shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after its solemnization.”
Article 36 must be read in conjunction with the other articles in the Family Code, specifically Articles 35, 37, 38, and 41 which provide different grounds to render a marriage void ab initio, as well as Article 45 which dwell on voidable marriages, and Article 55 on legal separation. Care must be observed so that these various circumstances are not to be applied indiscriminately as if the law were indifferent on the matter. And Article 36 should not be confused with a divorce law that cuts the marital bond at the time the causes therefore manifest themselves, nor with legal separation in which the grounds need not be rooted in psychological incapacity but on physical violence, moral pressure, moral corruption, civil interdiction, drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, sexual infidelity, abandonment, and the like.
“Psychological incapacity” has been elucidated on as follows: The term “psychological incapacity” to be a ground for the nullity of marriage under Article 36 of the Family Code, 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. As all people may have certain quirks and idiosyncrasies, or isolated characteristics associated with certain personality disorders, there is hardly a doubt that the intendment of the law has been to confine the meaning of “psychological incapacity” to the most serious cases of personality disorders clearly demonstrative of an utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the marriage. The root cause must be identified as a psychological illness, and its incapacitating nature must be fully explained the mere showing of “irreconcilable differences” and “conflicting personalities” does not constitute psychological incapacity nor does failure of the parties to meet their responsibilities and duties as married persons. It is essential that the parties to a marriage must be shown to be insensitive to or incapable of meeting their duties and responsibilities due to some psychological (not physical) illness, which insensitivity or incapacity should have been existing at the time of the celebration of the marriage even if it becomes manifest only after its solemnization.
Here, Dr. Gerong found that Martini’s “personality disorders” including his being a “mama’s boy” are “serious, grave, existing already during the adolescent period and incurable” and concluded that Martini “appeared” to be dependent upon his family and unable “to establish a domicile for his family and to support his family.”
The doctor’s findings and conclusion were derived from his interview of Lynnette and her sister and Lynnette’s deposition. From Lynnette’s deposition, however, it is gathered that Martini’s failure to establish a common life with her stems from his refusal, not incapacity, to do so. It is downright incapacity, not refusal or neglect or difficulty, much less ill will,which renders a marriage void on the ground of psychological incapacity. In another vein, how the doctor arrived at the conclusion, after interviewing Lynnette and considering her deposition, that any such personality disorders of Martini have been existing since Martini’s adolescent years has not been explained.
