CA rules: Marriage without love, respect is 'bondage of suffering'

Without love and respect, and only tainted by violence, disdain, pain, and infidelity, marriage becomes a bondage of suffering.

- By REY G. PANALIGAN

Thus, the Court of Appeals (CA) reiterating a previous Supreme Court (SC) ruling said: "Preserving such marriage is antithetical to the kind of partnership and celebration of love we have in our laws, traditions, and beliefs as a society."

The CA decision, written by Associate Justice Carlito B. Calpatura, granted the appeal of Laine (not her real name) who sought the reversal of a trial court's ruling that dismissed her petition for nullity of marriage against Nulfo (also not his real name).

(Manila Bulletin redacted the real names of the parties in the case - docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 119384 to protect their and their son's privacy.)

Laine's petition for nullity of marriage was based on Article 36 of the Family Code on the alleged psychological incapacity of Nulfo to fulfill his marital obligations.

She told the court she met Nulfo in 2001 in school and, thereafter, they became a couple.