Annulment manual out; priest is author
Legal separation allows couples to live apart and separate their possessions but does not permit them to remarry.
In time for the celebration of Women’s Month, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, or CBCP, who doubles as a lawyer, on Saturday launched a book that discusses the annulment of marriages.
Bishop Nolly Buco JSD, JCD DD, the author of the book titled “Freeing Distressed Couples from Guilt,” said that as a lawyer and an active member of the CBCP, he seeks a way that will strike a balance between the Church and the State regarding the annulment of marriage.
According to Bishop Buco, “The Church is always open to help Filipino couples who seek nullity of their previous marriage which seems to be unsuccessful.”
“But the Church through its Matrimonial Tribunal declares such nullity of marriage meaning that there is no such marriage that took place from the beginning,” he said.
Proper process
Buco added that he came up with the book because the Philippines, despite having a Matrimonial Tribunal that handles annulment cases through Canon Law, only relies on the legal way to dissolve a marriage, which is through civil or court annulment, a process that is decided with designated family courts.
The clergy is the current chairperson of CBCP’s National Tribunal and concurrently the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Catarman and Auxiliary Bishop of Antipolo.
Gracing the book launch were former Senators Jose “Joey” Lina and Francisco “Kit” Tatad.
The event held at the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Marikina City was also attended by friends, religious communities, state personalities, dignitaries, and couples seeking an annulment.
Under Philippine laws, married couples who want to end their marriage have limited options, according to the Philippine Commission on Women.
One is through legal separation which allows couples to live apart and separate their possessions but does not permit them to remarry.
Another option is through a declaration of nullity of marriage which means the marriage is considered null and void due to the lack of the essential and formal requisites of marriage such as having no legal capacity to enter into marriage; it is considered against public policy, in the likes of incestuous and bigamous marriages; it did not conform to the requirements set forth by the Family Code; and it is a case wherein one or both parties is/are psychologically incapacitated to perform the marital obligations thereto.
The last option is annulment which connotes that a marriage contract is valid and existing but was only canceled or annulled.
Based on the Family Code, the grounds for annulment are lack of parental consent, insanity/ psychological incapacity; fraud, force, intimidation, or undue influence; impotence; and sexually transmissible diseases.