A love story that started of with a wish and hope for a happily ever after may not always be the case. Some love stories end up in hellish marriages while some took up the courage to file for an annulment. But instead of annulment, some hope for a divorce in the Philippines, which is not yet available in the country. In fact, the Philippines is one of the few countries in the world where divorce is not available. Even the mere mention of it could send the faithfuls and various church-based groups to the streets.
Accordingly, annulment uses psychological incapacity as the foremost basis to file for one unlike divorce in the Philippines that may make use of irreconcilable differences, abuse, infidelity and abandonment as its basis. More so, proving psychological incapacity needed an expert’s opinion like those of a psychologist. Witnesses may also be needed for an annulment case to further strengthen that both estranged husband and wife are no longer psychologically fit and capable to continue the marriage.
In some cases, an annulment may not be granted, despite the emotional and psychological abuse. In a divorce, however, the basis for filing one is relatively easier to prove, which could also hasten the divorce process. And this is perhaps the reason why church-based groups are against divorce since marriages will be easier to dissolve.
But despite the strong opposition of the church, the passing of the Divorce House Bill after it garnered a vote of 134 to 57 in Philippine Congress was monumental, especially that no divorce legislation made it that far. But before it could become a law, the House Bill should pass the Senate and get its approval. A Senate version of the bill could come up in the following months, which will go under scrutiny and debate before it eventually become a law…or not.
For the meantime, while divorce in the Philippines will still undergo a needle-in-a-haystack process, marriage annulment is still a legal remedy for husbands and wives in the country to get out of a loveless and abusive marriage.