Republic of the Philippines

8th Judicial Region

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
Branch 7, Tacloban City

VALERIO E. KALAW,
Petitioner, SP. PROC NO. B-18-10-28
For: Declaration of Nullity of
Marriage
-versus-

MA. ELENA C. FERNANDEZ,

Respondent.
X---------------------------------------------X

PETITION

Comes now petitioner, through herein counsel unto this

Honorable Court respectfully avers that:

1. He is a Filipino citizen, of legal age, with capacity to sue and

be sued, married to but separated in fact from respondent,
MA. ELENA FERNANDEZ, and a resident of Brgy.109,
Tacloban City, Leyte Philippines where he could be served
with summonses. Due however to petitioner’s employment
overseas, he is not always around in his residence so it is
prayed that notices and other processes from the Honorable
Court be served at the office address of his counsel;

2. Respondent is likewise a Filipino citizen, of legal age, with

capacity to sue and be sued, married to but separated in fact
from herein petitioner and with address at Tacloban City,
Leyte where she could be served with summons and other
notices from this Court;

3. Parties are capacitated to sue and be sued;

Page 1 of 6
 4. Petitioner and Respondent had a civil wedding1 on November
4, 2000 at the Municipal Trial Court in Tacloban City, Leyte
which was solemnized by Hon. Juan Lopez ;

5. Parties were blessed with 4 children, to wit:

Valerio Kalaw2, 15 years old;

Maria Eva Kalaw3, 13 years old;
Ramon Miguel Kalaw4, 6 years old;
Jaime Teodoro Kalaw5, 5 years old.

6. Petitioner was brought up by his biological parents in

Tacloban City and has 4 siblings.

7. The respondent, on the other hand, was raised by her father

and was always longing for a maternal role model.

8. The parties met each other in December 1999. They started

dating two or three times a week. It was a short courtship.
They were engaged by January 2000 and married each other
on November of the same year.

9. The petitioner and respondent resided in the house owned by

the petitioner’s parents.

10. No properties were acquired by the parties during the

marriage; nor were any debts incurred by the parties.

11. The respondent would leave their children without proper

care and attention as she played mahjong all day and all night.
She also frequently left the conjugal home to party with his
male friends and return in the early hours of the following day.

12.On June 9, 2005, petitioner and his brother-in-law, Ronald

Fernandez (respondent’s brother) caught the respondent in

1 Please refer to the copy of the Certificate of Marriage issued by NSO hereunto attached as
ANNEX-A.
2 Please refer to the copy of the Certificate of Live Birth of Valerio Kalaw hereunto attached as

ANNEX-B.
3 Please refer to the copy of the Certificate of Live Birth of Maria Eva Kalaw hereunto attached as

ANNEX-C.
4 Please refer to the copy of the Certificate of Live Birth of Ramon Miguel Kalaw hereunto

attached as ANNEX-D.
5
Please refer to the copy of the Certificate of Live Birth of Aeneas Jaime Teodoro Kalaw hereunto
attached as ANNEX-E.

Page 2 of 6
 flagrante delicto. They proceeded to Hyatt Hotel and learned
that respondent was occupying a room with a certain Benjie
Guevarra (Benjie). When he proceeded to the said room, he
saw Benjie and the respondent inside. Benjie was wearing
only a towel around his waist, while respondent was lying in
bed in her underwear.

13. After the incident, the petitioner agreed not to charge the
respondent with the adultery and the latter agreed to
relinquish all her marital and parental rights over their
children.

14.The parties put their agreement in writing before Atty. Jose

Palarca.6

15. On July 1, 2005, the respondent left the conjugal home, leaving
their children with the petitioner.

16.After being de facto separated with the respondent, the

petitioner met Jocelyn Quejano with whom he had son. They
moved to the United States with their child.

17. The petitioner and respondent’s four children were left in a

house located in downtown Tacloban City with only a house
help and driver. The house help would just call respondent to
take care of the children whenever any of them got sick.

18. In 2009, the two elder children, went to live in the United
States with the petitioner. After just one year, the second child,
Ria, returned to the Philippines and chose to live with respondent.

19.The petitioner returned to the Philippines and resumed physical

custody of the two younger children, Miggy and Jay.

20. The Petitioner would want to nullify his marriage with his
estranged wife, MA. ELENA FERNANDEZ as she failed to
give love, emotional support and fidelity to the marriage. He
wants to move on and start a new life together with his
children.

6
Please refer to the copy of the agreement executed by petitioner and respondent hereunto attached as
ANNEX -F.

Page 3 of 6
 21.The petitioner then sought the assistance of a psychologist,
Dr. Cristina Gates, and a Catholic Canon Law expert, Fr.
Gerard Healy, S.J.

22. After a series of tests and interviews on the petitioner and

respondent, petitioner’s sister-in-law, and their children, it
was found out that the respondent is suffering from
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). NPD is present
when a person is obsessed to meet her wants and needs in utter
disregard of her significant others. The respondent’s NPD is
manifest in her utter neglect of her duties as a mother.7

23. Dr. Gates reported that Malyn’s personality disorder may have
been evident even prior to her marriage because it is rooted in her
family background and upbringing, which the psychologist
gathered to be materially deprived and without a proper maternal
role model.

24. Fr. Healy corroborated Dr. Gates assessment. He concluded

that Malyn was psychologically incapacitated to perform her
marital duties. This only constitute psychological incapacity
whenever inordinate amounts of time are spent on these activities
to the detriment of ones familial duties. Fr. Healy characterized
respondent’s psychological incapacity as grave and incurable.8

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, petitioner

respectfully prays that the Honorable Court gives due course to this
petition and declares his marriage to herein respondent null and void
by reason of the psychological incapacity of the respondent to fulfill her
marital obligations and ordering the respective offices of the Local Civil
Registrar keeping the record of such marriage to make the necessary
corrections thereon.

Petitioner also prays for all other just and equitable reliefs the
Honorable Court may deem proper under the circumstances.

7
Please refer to the copy of the Psychological Evaluation Report hereunto attached as ANNEX- G
and series.
8
Please refer to the copy of the Report hereunto attached as ANNEX-H.

Page 4 of 6
 Tacloban City, Philippines, June 28, 2018.

ATTY. Mae Ipaglaban

Counsel for the Petitioner
Ipaglaban Mo & Partners Law Offices
123 Bldg. Real St., Tacloban City
Attys. Roll No. 12346/January 10, 2010
PTR No. 7654321/1-01-18 Tacloban City
IBP O.R. NO. 1000456/01-01-18, Leyte Chapter
MCLE Compliance No. V-0003322, 11-12-2018
Email: attymaeipaglaban@yahoo.com

VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATE OF NON-FORUM

SHOPPING

I, VALERIO E. KALAW, of legal age, after having been duly sworn

in accordance with law, depose and state that:

1. I am the petitioner in the above-stated case;

2. I caused the preparation of the foregoing petition;

3. I have read the contents thereof and the facts stated therein are
true and correct of my personal knowledge and/or on the
basis of copies of documents and records in my possession;

4. I have not commenced any other action or proceeding involving

the same issues in any court or any other tribunal or agency;

5. To the best of my knowledge and belief, no such action or

proceeding is pending in the Supreme Court, the Court of
Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency;

6. If I should thereafter learn that a similar action or proceeding has

been filed or is pending before the Supreme Court, the Court of
Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency, I undertake to report
that fact within five (5) days therefrom to this Honorable Court.

Page 5 of 6
 IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature
this 28th day of June 2018, in Tacloban City, Philippines.

VALERIO E. KALAW
Petitioner-Affiant

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of June, 2018,

In the City of Tacloban, Philippines, affiant being personally known to
me.

Doc. No.
Page No.
Book No.
Series of 2018

Page 6 of 6