can I use her mental illness as ground for filing annulment and what ground, article, I would be sued using RA 9262?

Atty.,
Hi, ikinasal ako ng 1999 and had a son who is now 13 years old. My wife suffered mental illness from 2002 to 2009 maybe due to severe depression cause of death of our newly born baby. I said until 2009 because that year she stopped taking medicines prescribed by the psychiatrists and before I left the Phil to work abroad as OFW in 2009, I have not seen her having hallucination anymore, no longer talking nonsense to herself, but there was time she told me she hears sound , as if somebody whispering to her ears. During those years she was sick, it was really difficult for me, spiritually, mentally, financially and mental torture din kasi lagi ko naiisip ang problema ko. Every time I was in the office lagi ako kinakabahan kapag may tawag ako from home kasi sigurado ko may problema na naman. Minsan, nakakahiya na rin sa mga kapitbahay ang sitwasyon namin. My family advised me then, to leave my wife to her family and just support her and my son financially because my family also worried about my health and I might lose my job also due to absences. But I declined them and told them not in that situation and instead I work harder and accompanied her to hospitals for her regular check ups, at pati na rin sa mga albularyo. On and off naman ang sumpong nya pero madalas ay may sumpong sya ng mga years na yun at obviously hindi nya magampanan ang pagiging ina at asawa. To make the story short, she recovered, seems back to normal now. My question now is this, can I use her mental illness as ground for filing annulment? Do I have chance to win this case in court? I want to annul our marriage not only because she is now in her right mind but because of the way she treated me, she always accuse me of something I never did, she does not handle well the money I am sending her and the income from the business I put. Another question is, can she sue me using RA 9262 because I told her that it is better for us to be separated for she does not trust me and because she keeps nagging me? Can she use RA 9262 despite I send money regularly and she gets also the income from our business and bought them a house using my salary? I said them because my son, her sister/sisters, her mother and niece stay with her? In my case, what ground, article, I would be sued using RA 9262? To be honest, I do not want to be sued and be issued with hold departure order for it hampers my work abroad and it may cause financial problems for us, too. Please…

IMO, you cannot use the insanity ground, well not anymore. also the grounds you mentioned are not acceptable for annulment. better see a lawyer, there must be someway to do it. psychological incapacity perhaps?

does it mean psychological incapacity does not coincide with insanity? How about my other questions regarding the possibility she will file RA9262? I really need a lawyer, can you recommend one? How much money I should prepare? Thanks.

Those are two different animal. However, for insanity to be a ground you need to prove that she is insane during the celebration of the marriage. In your narration she only have been so after your marriage. Better use psychological incapacity.

Regarding the RA 9262, the mere fact that you are providing support does not make you immune from committing the crime. She can use grounds other than economic abuse like, physical and/or psychological violence. In your case, she can use her insanity as a proof that you have committed psychological violence.

psychological incapacity should be already existing at the time of marriage,although may not have been manifest at the time of celebration,, subsequent ones does not fall in fore with the requisites of the law.

branding her as insane, tho she may have recovered, may cause her emotional torment and may amount to emotional violence.

So, if she can file RA9262 using psychological violence and her mental illness as a proof, then, what are the details she can provide pertaining to that violence? Is there any situation where the wife got insane while having a normal relationship with husband? Is it the same as saying if wife suffers such illness it is because of the husband? What if she has a 1st cousin who also has the same illness like her but more severe and still taking medicines and has medical check- up regularly until now? Well, it seems a matter of words against her words, depends on the evidences and witnesses to be presented, depends on how lawyers handle the case. Since I could not use mental illness as ground for annulment and my case falls under psychological incapacity, what is my chance that law will annul my marriage? What if I declare that I am the one who is incapacitated? Cannot understand her nagging, paranoid that there might happen to me if I live with her, always worrying that her mental illness is not fully cured and anytime it will returns? What if there is already a petition for annulment, can she still file case against me using RA9262? Please give me also hints what steps to be taken in filing this annulment case, can I use proxy for hearing?

(What are the details she can provide pertaining to that violence?) She can say that you are womanizing, and unfaithful and this leads to her depression and going insane.

(Is there any situation where the wife got insane while having a normal relationship with husband?) Yes, habing normal or good relationship with the husband is not a vaccine for insanity.

(Is it the same as saying if wife suffers such illness it is because of the husband?) It can be attributed to the husband or that the husband triggers the insanity.

(What if she has a 1st cousin who also has the same illness like her but more severe and still taking medicines and has medical check- up regularly until now?) You could use that as a defense or ground for psychological incapacity where she and her family has a mental history.

Since I could not use mental illness as ground for annulment and my case falls under psychological incapacity, what is my chance that law will annul my marriage? (We cannot say. There is insufficient information to give an educated guess)


What if I declare that I am the one who is incapacitated? (You can do so)

Cannot understand her nagging, paranoid that there might happen to me if I live with her, always worrying that her mental illness is not fully cured and anytime it will returns? (This is not psychological incapacity in terms of annulment.)

What if there is already a petition for annulment, can she still file case against me using RA9262? (Yes)

Please give me also hints what steps to be taken in filing this annulment case, can I use proxy for hearing? (Start off by hiring a lawyer. There are instances where you would have to personally appear, other than that you may skip attending the court hearing.)

She can say that I am unfaithful but she needs to present hard evidences and witnesses to prove her claim. She must present evidence that I was unfaithful to her before she got sick in 2002 if it was the cause of her depression, right? Why she still wants me to stay and live with her if I did wrong to her? Most of the stories I ve read about filing of RA9262 by wives have reasons such as, they want to separate from their husbands, to avoid more violence, to get financial support and/or to put their husbands in jail for harming them (psychologically and physically). If ever, only this time I can hear of the case that wife wants her husband to put in jail because he wants to leave her.

What if my petition for annulment did not succeed, meaning, the law did not grant it in my favor, what will happen to our marriage status? I know the law can not force me to live with my wife if I don’t want to, am I correct? But she can still sue me, so, what protection can I have from the law if she will use RA9262 in this scenario? Is it true if it is the wife who files the annulment case, has a better chance to get positive result?

Thanks for the info. that I can use insanity of her cousin against her as a ground for psychological incapacity. Better than to pretend that I am incapacitated, right?

Well, your case is a bit difficult! any wife who lost a baby can be driven into insanity. This cannot be used against her for you to file an annulment I'm afraid! Although she has a record of being insane, this is not enough evidense for you to use as a ground, unless she has been unfaithful to you. Its difficult as you have a son and I am sure you don't want to abandon him completely, otherwise you can easily live abroad for many long years and start the process of annulment. But of course wherever you are, you still have to give maintenance to your son. Nowadays, wife has control with husbands which sometimes is a bit unfair I must say! Goodluck on your freedom!

Atty,

Napakalaki po ng problema ko...I need someone who's knowledgeable talaga sa batas.here's my story...

I've met this man online last 2003 and we've got married 2004. He was 51 at this time and I was a fresh college graduate way back then, nasa earl 20's ako nun. Hindi ko naman tinago sa kanya yong fact that I will marry him at that time because I want to help my parents and siblings so he knew that I did marry him because I want to go to his place to work. He promised me na he'll help me lifting up my family's life but after marrying him saka lang nya sinabi na financially unstable sya at no work sya, worst was he was just relying sa gov't support nila. so I was left in the Philippines, working for my family. after 2 years pa yata kami nakapag-apply ng spousal visa but it was also denied because financially unstable sya. Ito pa ang malala, he didnt told me na sexually inactive na pala sya kasi affected na pala yon ng diabetes nya. So wala talagang nangyari sa amin sexually. At saka lang nya sinabi na he can never give me a child kasi impotent na pala sya. After of i think 5 years of waiting kung kailan nya ako makukuha dito, nameet ko tong isang Filipino man. Ito talaga ang pumuno ng lahat-lahat ng pagkukulang nung foreigner. Lagi sinasabi ng foreginer sa akin before I met this Filipino man na ok lang na makipagsex ako sa iba. Ok lang din daw ako magkaanak sa iba. Napagod na ako sa kakahintay sa foreigner until nagsama kami nitong Filipino. Nagkaanak kami. It came to a point na nakipaghiwalay na ako sa foreigner kasi alam ko meron din syang mga babae online and sa mga visits nya dito sa Philippines lagi nyang pinapameet sa akin yong mga girls nya aside sa fact na nagbabar sya dito flirting with women in bars. Meron din syang video dun sa isang babae na inaya nya sa hotel at pinaglaruan nya lang. We've both agreed na magpa-annul kaso po ayaw nyang magfinance. Nagconsult na ako sa PAO kaso po nirefer lang ako sa private lawyer na all-in daw no appearance needed, 250,000 pesos so hindi ko talaga nafile yong annulment. And because of this, binaboy nya ang pagkatao ko, lahat ng naked pictures/private videos na hindi ko naman alam na pinagvivideo pala nya yong mga intimate moments namin dati, pinadala nya sa mga kamag-anak ko using facebook. gusto ko na ngang mawala sa mundo sa sobrang kahihiyan. at ngayon nagbanta syang magpafile sya ng adultery case laban sa amin and ipopost daw nya lahat ng naked pics and videos sa facebook sa lahat ng tao sa fb. ano po ba ang dapat kung gawin? pwede ba syang magfile ng adultery case kahit wala sya dito sa Pilipinas? Ano po ang mga charges na pwede kong isampa sa kanya, like i've read about Violence Against Women and all. please enligthen me...need ko talaga ang help asap...

thanks po sa lahat.