Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

Ninth Judicial Region
Branch 15
Zamboanga City

DEXTER L. FERMIN Civil Case No. _____________

Petitioner,

-versus- -for-

LAURA MEDINA-FERMIN Declaration of Nullity of Marriage based on

Respondent. Article 45 (6) of the Family Code, Dissolution
X-----------------------------------------------X of Community Property Regime and with an
Application for the Sole Custody of and
Support for Sophie and Michael M. Fermin

PRE-TRIAL BRIEF FOR PETITIONER

COMES NOW Petitioner, through her undersigned counsel and to this Honorable Court, most
respectfully sumbit this Pre-Trial Brief, to wit:

I. STATEMENT OF THE PETITIONER'S WILLINGNESS TO ENTER INTO AMICABLE

SETTLEMENT INDICATING THE DESIRED TERMS THEREOF OR TO SUBMIT TO ANY
ALTERNATIVE MODES OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION.

Being a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage with an application for sole custody, which
is not subject to any compromise or settlement, it is submitted that the instant petition cannot be
submitted to any compromise nor alternative modes of dispute resolution, except the prayer of
Petitioner for the division of the community property of the parties and support.

II. SUMMARY OF ADMITTED FACTS AND PROPOSED STIPULATION OF FACTS

1. Petitional circumstances of the parties

2. Petitioner and Respondent were married on 08 September 2015 at the San Agustin
Church in Manila solemnized by Fr. Godofredo Quiambao.
3. Petitioner went to Manila for schooling for “Public Safety Officers Basic Course”, located
at Laguna. There, he met Paul M. Cruz, who became his buddy and bunkmate. On February 2014,
Paul M. Cruz invited the Petitioner to attend the 70 th birthday party for his grandmother at Heritage
Hotel in Manila. There, he met the Respondent, Laura R. Medina, Laura for brevity, a second-degree
cousin of Paul M. Cruz. There was already a physical attraction between the parties at their first
meeting. So, the Petitioner asked for her mobile number and they became friends and text mates.
4. Paul M. Cruz informed his friend, the Petitioner, that his cousin had a questionable
reputation and that the Petitioner should be cautious, to which the latter duly dismissed as he was
enamored of the Respondent and continued the communication with the Respondent.
5. On March 2014, they met up again for the Respondent’s graduation party held at Max
Baywalk where they confessed mutual likeness for each other and the Petitioner asked to court her.
Thereafter, the parties dated exclusively and became official on June 2014, at Paul M. Cruz’s
birthday. The Petitioner was old-fashioned and respected the Respondent, to which the latter agreed
to forgo any sexual intimacies early on in their relationship.
6. The Petitioner thereafter flew back to Zamboanga City, together with Paul M. Cruz, who
was assigned therein. The parties maintained a long-distance relationship through correspondence of
text messages and phone calls.
 7. On August 2015, the Petitioner’s birth month and right before the wedding, he went
through his annual medical check-up as it is compulsory for his line of work. He was cleared healthy
by the medical examiner.
8. The parties decided to settle down in Zamboanga City after their marriage because of
the Petitioner’s work. The Respondent became a housewife. They rented out a 2-door apartment with
appliances worth fifty-thousand pesos. Thereafter, the father of the Respondent, Rogelio Medina,
bestowed a wedding gift to the Respondent, a small 4-door commercial building in Sta. Mesa, with
fifteen thousand pesos monthly rental each unit. The Respondent encouraged the Petitioner to buy a
car during the pregnancy. They were able to save and purchase a Honda City, fully paid.
9. During the pregnancy, the Petitioner accompanied the Respondent on one of her
internal examinations, wherein the doctor found redness in her external genitalia. The Petitioner did
not worry as he admitted to the doctor that the parties led an active sex life.
10. On 13 June 2016, Laura gave birth to fraternal twins named Sophie and Michael M.
Fermin. The Respondent became irritable with the twins and frequently complained to the Petitioner
that the babies were always crying. The Petitioner witnessed the Respondent shouting at one of the
babies and throwing the baby to the bed. The parties had a long argued about it, wherein the
Respondent informed the Petitioner that she did not want to take care of two difficult babies at the
same time. They hired a nanny thereafter.
11. Within the same period, the Petitioner noticed that the Respondent was overly
engrossed with spending time with her friends, having drinking and shopping sprees. The
Respondent spent less time with her family. The Petitioner heard rumors surrounding his wife that
she has spent a lot of time at clubs with her group of friends, which included men. The Petitioner
confronted the Respondent about her activities but the latter disregarded the former’s worry, insisting
she was only having fun.
12. On late August of 2016, the Petitioner had his annual medical check-up. The examiner
discovered redness on the Petitioner’s genitals, after he complained of feeling sore. He was advised
to undergo a more thorough checkup. Thereafter, the Petitioner was informed that he tested positive
for Genital Herpes. The doctor informed him that he could have contracted the disease from his wife.
The Petitioner was worried that his children may have contracted the disease as well, and informed
the doctor thusly. He was advised to have the babies go through sample blood and urine tests.
13. During that period, the Petitioner confessed to Paul M. Cruz about his predicament of
being positive of such a disease. The latter informed him that the Respondent had been taking
medicine to hide her condition from him. Paul M. Cruz had gotten the information from his girlfriend,
Isabel Santos, after she had a hung out with the Respondent with the latter’s usual group of friends.
14. Thereafter, the test results of Sophie M. Fermin, the minor daughter, came back
positive, which shocked the Petitioner. Meanwhile, Michael M. Fermin tested negative. The Petitioner
was informed that the disease had been passed down through the pregnancy. The Petitioner then
confronted the Respondent about the disease, to which the latter vehemently refused that she had
contracted it. The Petitioner told her to tell the truth, but the Respondent insisted that she has not
contracted it, accompanying slaps to the Petitioner’s chest to get her point across.
15. The Petitioner thereafter became under heavy stress at work because of the rumors
spreading about his family. The Petitioner came to the decision to separate from the Respondent.
The decision became final when the nanny confessed to him that the Respondent has had violent
outbursts when scolding their children, and that she sometimes brought her friends over to binge on
alcohol and sometimes recreational drugs.
 16. Due to the fact that the Respondent has concealed her disease from the Petitioner and
had been abusing and neglecting their children, Sophie and Michael M. Fermin, the Petitioner is
forced to seek legal and judicial remedies against the Respondent by filing for an Annulment to
enforce his rights.
17. Considering that the Petitioner had contracted a sexually-transmissible disease from
the Respondent only after their marriage, the Petitioner's marriage may be annulled. This is explicitly
provided for in Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as follows:
“Art. 45. A marriage may be annulled for any of the following causes, existing at the time of the
marriage:
(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage annulled was
eighteen years of age or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage was solemnized
without the consent of the parents, guardian or person having substitute parental
authority over the party, in that order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such
party freely cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife;
(2) That either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to reason,
freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(3) That the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards,
with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife;
(4) That the consent of either party was obtained by force, intimidation or undue
influence, unless the same having disappeared or ceased, such party thereafter freely
cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(5) That either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage with the
other, and such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable; or
(6) That either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease found to
be serious and appears to be incurable.”
III. STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE/S TO BE TRIED AND RESOLVED.

I. WHETHER OR NOT THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN PETITIONER AND

RESPONDENT BE DECLARED NULL AND VOID PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 45 (6)
OF THE FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

II. WHETHER OR NOT THE PARTIES' ABSOLUTE COMMUNITY PROPERTY

REGIME BE DISSOLVED AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SHARES BE DISTRIBUTED TO
BOTH OF THEM EQUALLY

III. WHETHER OR NOT THE PETITIONER'S APPLICATION FOR SOLE CUSTODY

OF AND SUPPORT FOR THE PARTIES' TWO (2) MINOR CHILDREN BE GRANTED

IV. LIST OF DOCUMENTS OR EXHIBITS TO BE PRESENTED AND THEIR RESPECTIVE

PURPOSES.

Exhibit "A" - the machine copy of the Medical Certificate of the Petitioner before
contracting marriage with the Respondent

Exhibit "B" - the machine copy of the parties' Certificate of Marriage

Exhibit "C" - the machine copy of the Deed of Donation received by the Respondent

Exhibits "D" and "E" - the machine copies of the Certificate of Live Birth of the parties'
two (2) children

Exhibit "F" - the machine copy of the Medical Certificate of the Petitioner after
contracting marriage with the Respondent

Exhibit "G" - the machine copy of the Medical Certificate of the Petitioner testing positive
for Genital Herpes

Exhibit "H" - the machine copy of the Medical Certificate of Sophie M. Fermin, the
parties' minor daughter

V. WITNESS TO BE PRESENTED, SUBSTANCE OF THEIR TESTIMONIES AND

APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF HOURS REQUIRED

1. The Petitioner
Petitioner reserves the right to present additional witnesses should the need arise

VI. APPLICABLE LAWS AND JURISPRUDENCE

1. Article 45 (6) of the Family Code of the Philippines and settled jurisprudence relative
thereto;
2. Article 50 of the Family Code of the Philippines on the Effects of the Declaration of
Nullity or Annulment of Marriage; Provisions in the Final Judgment and applicable
jurisprudence on the matter;
3. New Rules on Declaration of Nullity of Marriage;
4. Civil Code of the Philippines;
 VIII. AVAILABLE TRIAL DATES OF COUNSEL TO COMPLETE PRESENTATION OF
EVIDENCE

March 2 and 3 2017 at 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon

Respectfully submitted

City of Zamboanga, Philippines, 28 February 2017

GROUP THREE LAW OFFICES

Normal Road, Baliwasan, Zamboanga City
Tel. No. (062) 991-3333

By:

ATTY. JUANA DE LA CRUZ

Counsel for Petitioner
PTR No. 7331273;04 January 2017; Z.C
BP No. 362031; 04 January 2017; Z.C
Roll of Attorneys No. 654321
MCLE Compliance No. III-0001234

Copy furnished:

The Honorable Solicitor General

Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City, Philippines

Office of the City Prosecutor

Zamboanga City

Office of the City Civil Registrar

Zamboanga City