TO:

Atty. Jesus R. Falcis, Partner De leon

Falcis and Associates

FROM:

Atty. Sita Jane D.J. Gabata,

Atty. Chloe Anne SY Galita, and
Atty. Veniece Angela Flores
Junior Associate

SUBJECT: Declaration of Nullity of Marriage

Girlie Geronimo v. Manolo Perez
DATE:

March 11, 2015

I.ISSUE/S:
A. Whether the behavior of the husband (the opposing party), in refusing to get himself a
job and spending most of his time with friends , drinking intoxicating substances, gambling,
taking illegal drugs as constituting Anti-Social Personality Disorder amounts to psychological
incapacity under Article 36 of the Civil Code.
II. BRIEF ANSWER:
A. NO. The Supreme Court defined Art.36 as the incapacity or failure of a party to comply
with the essential marital obligation. It indicates psychological incapacity, as characterized, that
the same antedated the marriage, and is of such gravity to be incurable. The respondent happens
to have Anti- Social Personality Disorder, which based on the evaluation test of Dr. Ong, is
considered to be grave, incurable and is deep within the system, consequently continues to
influence the latter stage of life. However,this finding of Dr. Ong was admitted to be based only
on the narration made by Girlie, and did not personally examine Manolo, hence, bringing an
implication that its very nature as evidence is dubitable and does not equate the ground for
psychological incapacity. We dont recommend you to file the case.
III.STATEMENT OF FACTS:
Our client, Girlie Geronimo,now residing at 88 Sampaguita St. Reynoso, Pasig City with her
mother, was married to Manolo Perez on June 12, 1988. Girlie was 19 years and 4 months old,
while Manolo was 20 years old then. The couple begot two children: Joana Marie who was born
on January 3, 1989, and Norman who was born on March 14, 1997.

Contrary to what was expected, their marriage turned out to be rocky right from the very onset.
Claimed, Manolo refused to get himself a job. Instead, he spent most of his available time with
his friends drinking intoxicating substances and gambling activities. Girlie also discovered that
her husband was into drugs.
On August 20, 1998, Girlie left Manolo and transferred to her parents house.
Dr. Henrylyn Ong, a clinical psychologist at the National Center for Mental Health, declared
that from the psychological test and clinical interview she conducted on Girlie, she found that
Manolo, whom she did not personally examine, to be psychologically incapacitated to perform
the duties of a husband.
IV. DISCUSSION:
Psychological incapacity is gained by the characteristics based on gravity, juridical
antecedence and incurability. A husband who is irresponsible, habitual alcoholic and drug addict
is thus not equated to be incapable of performing his marital obligation.
I.

II.

From the submissions and the Courts own deliberations, the following guidelines in
the interpretation and application of the Art. 36 of the Family Code are hereby handed
down for the guidance of the bench and the bar: (1) The burden of proof to show the
nullity of the marriage belongs to the plaintiff (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. (3)The
incapacity must be proven to exist at the time of the celebration of the marriage.
(4)Such capacity must also be shown to be medically or clinically permanent or
incurable. (5)Such illness must be grave enough to bring about the disability of the
party to assume the essential obligations of marriage. (6) The essential marital
obligations must be those embraced by articles 68 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.
In the case of Manolo, there is no showing that his alleged personality traits were
constitutive of psychological incapacity existing before the marriage. The