Antonio vs. Reyes, G.R. No. 155800, Mar.

10, 2006

TINGA, J.

FACTS:

August 1989: Antonio (petitioner) aged 26 met Reyes (respondent) age 36, and married barely a
year after (Sta. Rosa de Lima Parish, Pasig, M.M. on 6 Dec 1990). They had a son born 19 April
1991 who died five months later.
8 March 1993: Petitioner filed for annulment of marriage on the grounds of psychological
incapacity of respondent (Art 26 of the Family Code) which allegedly existed at the time they
celebrated their marriage.
Petitioner claims respondent persistently lied about herself regarding her occupation, income,
educational attainment, and other events:
o She concealed the fact that she has an illegitimate son whom she introduced after she
and the petitioner married, and only after he found out through other means.
o She fabricated a story that her brother-in-law Edwin David tried to rape and murder her.
o She lied about being a psychiatrist to her obstetrician Dr. Gardiner and to some of her
friends.
o She claimed to be a singer for Black Gold Recording Company; that a luncheon to honor
her was held at Phil. Village Hotel; no one, including her family could corroborate this
claim.
o She invented friends (Babes Santos and Via Marquez) to further the lie that she was a
singer for Black Gold, even sending letters, signed with their names, to the petitioner.
o She lied about her income (altered her pay slip), and bought a sala set pretending it
was from a famous furniture dealer. She also spent unnecessarily and borrowed money
from people.
o She exhibited insecurities and extreme jealousy, to the point of calling petitioners
officemates to learn of his whereabouts.
Petitioner presented Dr. Dante Abcede (psychiatrist) and Dr. Arnulfo Lopez (psychologist) who
observed that respondents persistent lying and jealousy is pathological, concluding that she
was psychologically incapacitated.
Respondent says that allegations were not true. She presented her version:
o She concealed her child from petitioner for fear that he might leave her.
o She said (regarding Davids attempt to rape and kill her) that she surmised his intent
from the way she touched her back and ogled her from head to foot.
o She was actually a BS Banking and Finance graduate and had been teaching Psychology
at the Pasig Catholic School for two years.
o She was a freelance voice talent for Aris de las Alas (channel 9 exec. Producer) and that
she had done commercials for McCann-Erickson; she was a Black Gold artist though not
under contract, and that there was indeed a luncheon that honored her at the Phil.
Village Hotel.
o She said letters sent to petitioner were really from Babes Santos and Via(Bea) Marquez.
o She admitted to calling his officemate, but not to monitor his whereabouts.
 o She denies spending lavishly as she supports ten people from her monthly budget of
P7,000.00.
Respondent presented Dr. Antonio Reyes (psychiatrist) to refute allegations of her psychological
condition. He conducted tests including the Comprehensive Psycho-Pathological Rating Scale
(CPRS) and concluded that she was not psychologically incapacitated.
Dr. Lopez (petitioners side) rebutted saying there were flaws in the evaluation conducted: not
conducted by Dr. Reyes himself; results can be faked.
The trial court declared the marriage null and void.
Before the Trial Court rendered its decision, the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of
Manila annulled the Catholic marriage of the parties on the ground of lack of discretion of part
of the parties; this was affirmed by the National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal and was upheld
by the Roman Rota of the Vatican.
The petitioner alerted the Court of Appeals of these rulings by the Catholic Tribunal; the CA still
reversed the RTCs judgment on the grounds that the Molina Guidelines were not satisfied.

ISSUES:

W/N The petitioner has satisfied the Molina guidelines to have his marriage declared null and void,

HELD:

Yes. The petitioner, aside from his own testimony, presented a psychiatrist and clinical psychologist who
attested that constant lying and extreme jealousy of Reyes is abnormal and pathological and
corroborated his allegations on his wife's behavior, which amounts to psychological incapacity.

The factual findings of the trial court are deemed binding on the SC, owing to the great weight accorded
to the opinion of the primary trier of facts. As such, it must be considered that respondent had
consistently lied about many material aspects as to her character and personality. Her fantastic ability to
invent and fabricate stories and personalities enabled her to live in a world of make-believe. This made
her psychologically incapacitated as it rendered her incapable of giving meaning and significance to her
marriage.

*Molina was promulgated in 1997 and made explicit the requirement that the psychological incapacity
must be shown to be medically or clinically permanent or incurable. This case was filed in 1994.

The case sufficiently satisfies the Molina guidelines:

First, that Antonio had sufficiently overcome his burden in proving the psychological incapacity of his
wife;

Second, that the root cause of Reyes' psychological incapacity has been medically or clinically identified
that was sufficiently proven by experts, and was clearly explained in the trial court's decision;

Third, that she fabricated friends and made up letters before she married him prove that her
psychological incapacity was have existed even before the celebration of marriage;
Fourth, that the gravity of Reyes' psychological incapacity was considered so grave that a restrictive
clause was appended to the sentence of nullity prohibited by the National Appellate Matrimonial
Tribunal from contracting marriage without their consent;

Fifth, that she being a pathological liar makes her unable to commit the basic tenets of relationship
between spouses based on love, trust, and respect.

Sixth, that the CA clearly erred when it failed to take into consideration the fact that the marriage was
annulled by the Catholic Church. However, it is the factual findings of the judicial trier of facts, and not
of the canonical courts, that are accorded significant recognition by this Court.

Seventh, that Reyes' case is incurable considering that Antonio tried to reconcile with her but her
behavior remains unchanged.

RULING:

WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The decision of the RTC dated 10 August 1995, declaring the
marriage between petitioner and respondent NULL and VOID under Article 36 of the Family Code, is
REINSTATED. No costs.

Art. 36 of the Family Code

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.