REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION
BRANCH __
MANILA CITY

MARIA LUISA RAMOS,

Petitioner,

Civil Case No. _______

FOR: Declaration of Nullity
of Marriage on the ground
of Article 36 of the Family
Code
-versus-

MACARIO DE MESA,

Respondent.

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PETITION

COMES NOW, the petitioner, through the undersigned

counsel and unto this Honorable Court, most respectfully
avers that:

PARTIES

1. Petitioner, MARIA LUISA RAMOS,45 years of age, a

Filipino citizen, and presently residing at 12345 Taft
Avenue, Malate, Manila;

2. Respondent, MACARIO DE MESA, 45 years of age, a

Filipino citizen, and last known by petitioner to be
residing at 789 Martinez Street, Mandaluyong City,
where he may be served by notices, orders, and
processes of the Honorable Court;
3. The parties do not own any properties, whether real or
personal;

NATURE OF PETITION

4. The Petitioner prays before the Honorable Court to

declare as null and void the marriage between her and
the Respondent on the ground of the latter’s
psychological incapacity;

5. The following pertinent and relevant Family Code

provisions are the bases in the treatise in this Petition:

Art. 36. 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;

Art. 68. The husband and wife are obliged to

live together, observe mutual love, respect
and fidelity, and render mutual help and
support;

Art. 72. When one of the spouses neglects

his or her duties to the conjugal union or
commits acts which tend to bring danger,
dishonor or injury to the other or to the
family, the aggrieved party may apply to the
court for relief;

FACTS OF THE CASE

6. Petitioner met Respondent back in 1989 when they

were introduced by friends in Siena College were they
were both second year high school students. He was
quite popular in their school as he was crowned Mr.
Siena because of his good looks and athletic prowess
but he was kicked out of school the following year
because of academic deficiencies;
7. They met again after two years and that’s when
respondent started courting her. She gave in after a few
months of courtship and their relationship became
intimate leading to premarital sexual activities. At that
time, Petitioner’s mother already left for the USA to
work to help augment their finances and she was left to
the care of her grandmother who was very strict.
Petitioner would always be reprimanded for not going
home early or her grades and she resented this a lot;

8. During one of the times she was ventilating to

respondent her feelings against her grandmother and
her plans on writing her mother to get her to escape her
grandmother’s scolding, respondent immediately asked
her to elope with him and promised to take care of her
and not treat her the way she was treated by her
grandmother;

9. In her desire to get away from her family, petitioner

rescinded and went with respondent to their friends
resort were they stayed for a few days until they were
found by respondent’s family. They were brought to
petitioner’s house but her grandmother insisted that
they get married so they stayed with respondent’s
family;

10. They both went back to school but petitioner had to

stop after a year as she got pregnant in 1992 and bore
their first child, Miggy Paul.

11. A copy of the certificate of live birth of Miggy Paul

is attached hereto as ANNEX “A” and made an integral
part hereof;

12. Petitioner and Respondent had their civil wedding

at Antipolo City the following year or on 23 July 1993
upon the insistence of petitioner’s mother and
grandmother;

13. A copy of the marriage certificate of Petitioner and

Respondent is attached hereto as ANNEX “B” and
made an integral part hereof;

14. Petitioner wanted to resume her studies but she got

pregnant again in 1994 with their second child, Macario
Junior. All that time their expenses were shouldered by
 respondent’s mother with some help from petitioner’s
family;

15. A copy of the certificate of live birth of Macario

Junior is attached hereto as ANNEX “C” and made an
integral part hereof;

16. Respondent also kept on enrolling but not finishing

his studies and just dropped all his subjects claiming he
doesn’t feel studying anymore as it is not enjoyable as
before. They started a carwash business with the help of
respondent’s family but it did not prosper as respondent
would be out most of the time drinking with his friends.
Petitioner then decided to try her luck in selling, she
would buy goods from Divisoria and sell to her friends
and would occasionally cook for their friends and do
catering services just to earn some money as she
already feels they were burdening their parents but she
noted respondent doesn’t seem to care whether they
have money for food and milk as long as he has money
for his drinking;

17. When petitioner confront her about this, he would

become violent and started to shout invectives and hurt
her by slapping her or punching her in the arms and legs.
This made petitioner fear confronting him. Respondent
would even embarrass her in front of his family by
claiming she is just a “sampid” in their house and a good
for nothing wife even if she was the one working for
them. These would often lead to arguments and when
petitioner asked if she could leave, respondent would
become violent and start hitting her then promised to
change as long as she won’t leave him

18. The drinking and drug use however continued. After

one drinking spree and respondent came home obviously
high on drugs, she again confronted him and asked if she
could just go home to her grandmother, respondent
became furious and threatened her with a Bolo and said
she would die first before she could leave her. This made
petitioner very scared and would just cry in their room
whenever respondent is drunk and in combative mood.
Respondent would also be very sexually preoccupied
even when he is sober and would insist on having sex
even if the situation is inappropriate or in places where
they could get caught by family;
19. In 1999, petitioner again got pregnant with their
third child and when she told respondent, he left and
lived-in with another girl who was also pregnant with his
child;

20. A copy of the certificate of live birth of the third

child is attached hereto as ANNEX “D” and made an
integral part hereof;

21. Petitioner felt so humiliated but felt she has

nowhere to go so she stayed with her brother and sisters
in law for a few years as they were all supportive of her
until she was able to earn enough money to live
separately;

22. Petitioner believes that their relationship is already

beyond repair. Petitioner did everything she could to
save his marriage with the Respondent, however, their
incompatibility along with Respondent’s pervasively
flawed character had made it impossible to redeem the
relationship;

PETITIONER’S PERSONAL AND FAMILY HISTORY

23. Petitioner was born to Josefa Ramos and Joaquin

Ramos. Her father died when she was two years old and
she was solely raised by her mother. Her mother would
do odd jobs to be able to send her to good schools and
she reciprocated this by studying hard and helping in
household chores;

24. Because her father died early, she didn’t have any
siblings but she was never spoiled by her mother whom
she considers as her best friend also. Petitioner grew
very close to her; hence, she was devastated when she
has to leave for America to prepare for her college
education and the belief that they would have a better
future if she works there. She worked as a clerk in Target
Corp. and stayed there until retirement;

25. Her departure however left a big void in petitioner’s

world and she had a hard time coping with the absence
of her mother. This pushed her to enter into relationships
which she thought would help her cope with the
emptiness she felt but it didn’t. It was compounded by
 being left to a very conservative and strict grandmother
but she was still able to study hard and continue with
her obligations at home;

26. When she got married and her husband wouldn’t

help in their finances, she alone with little help from her
in-laws and mother sustain her family’s finances by
doing buy-and-sell and some catering services. She
didn’t have any close friends as she would rather spend
her time with her children and that alone takes a lot of
her time;

RESPONDENT’S PERSONAL AND FAMILY HISTORY

27. Respondent was born to Eddie De Mesa a

businessman who owns a rice mill in Cagayan and Myrna
De Mesa, an optometrist. He was the born second in a
brood of six;

28. Being first male child and a good looking kid, he

was raised with too much love and affection by his father
but this was short lived as he continued with his
womanizing ways. He thus turned his attention to his
mother but she was busy practicing her profession so
she was left to be taken care of by care givers;

29. He was doing well in school but was caught smoking

marijuana when he was only in the seventh grade hence
was kicked out and transferred to Siena. He continued
smoking marijuana even with the risk of being caught
again. He then met petitioner but wasn’t really interested
at her at first as a lot of girls occupy his attention as that
time he was name Mr.Siena of their school. He was
kicked out the following year due to academic
deficiencies and transferred to AMA;

30. After two years he met respondent again and

started courting her where they ended up having
intimate relations and he liked that setup of having a
girlfriend but still being able spend most of his time with
his friends drinking and partying as petitioner wasn’t
really demanding. When petitioner wanted to be
petitioned by mother, he cannot risk losing her hence he
asked her to elope;
31. He then tried several businesses like carwash and
selling candy bars but all didn’t prosper as continued
spending most of his time with his friends than with his
family or business. However, he would often confide to
his siblings that he felt lonely of what is happening to his
life and wanted to change for good but nothing would
really work out as he would be a different person the
following day. He also didn’t have a permanent set of
friends as he would often fight with his friends so he kept
jumping from one set to another;

32. He would often be verbally abusive of the people

around him claiming they don’t care for him or
understand him and kept blaming his father who said
was a bad person because of womanizing. His
abusiveness often lead to physical harm to petitioner
especially when she ask if she could just leave and they
separate;

33. When petitioner got pregnant with their third child

he also got another girl pregnant so when petitioner told
him about the pregnancy, he decided he wanted to leave
his family and try his luck with his new girlfriend;

34. He eventually separated with his girlfriend and now

lives alone occasionally working in a call center
company;

PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST

35. The petitioner had engaged the services of Dr.

Ernesto Manalo, Psychiatrist, for the determination of
psychological evaluation of both parties, who will be
presented as an expert witness in support of the instant
petition;

36. A copy of the curriculum vitae of Dr. Manalo is

attached hereto as ANNEX “E” and made an integral
part hereof;

37. Based on the results of the psychological tests and

interview on the parties and corroborator as well as
based on the background data gathered and marital
history of the parties, the findings of Dr. Manalo are
reproduced in the succeeding paragraphs hereinbelow,
 culled from the Report of Dr. Manalo, Psychiatrist,
attached as Annex “F” hereof, to wit:

Borderline Personality disorder is chronic and

incurable. It is alloplastic meaning it can
adapt and alter their environment so they feel
no stress at all. It is also ego-syntonic
(acceptable to the ego) so any form of
intervention would cause alteration to the ego
hence they would resist any form of
treatment. These are the reasons they are
impervious to recovery.

Since it has started early in life, it has been

deeply ingrained within their system and has
been an integral part of their personality
making them maladaptive and functionally
impaired hence unfit for mature roles like that
of marriage.

As a result of this condition, respondent is

unable to perform his duty as a married
person which include living with his partner,
observing mutual love, respect, fidelity and as
a partner to render mutual care and support
to each other and their children as well as
managing the household and raising their
children with sound values.

38. Dr. Manalo characterized the psychological

incapacity of Respondent as:

Based on the clinical interview of the

petitioner, respondent, informants and the
psychological test of the respondent, it is the
opinion of the examiner that he is suffering
from a Borderline Personality disorder.

Respondent met the criteria of the Diagnostic

and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for
Borderline Personality Disorder. They always
appear to be in a state of crisis, mood swings
are common where they feel sad or depressed
then change to being argumentative and
aggressive to feeling empty. Their behavior is
unpredictable with their achievements rarely
 at the level of their abilities. Their lives are
marked by recklessness and self-destructive
acts. Because they feel dependent and
hostile, they often have tumultuous
relationships where they shift from being
dependent to angry with their friends or
partners. But because they cannot tolerate
being alone, they desperately seek
companionship and love.

Borderline Personality Disorder is a pervasive

pattern of instability of interpersonal
relationships, self-image, and affects, and
marked impulsivity beginning by early
adulthood and present in a variety of context,
as indicated by five or more of the following:

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined

abandonment;

A pattern of unstable and intense

interpersonal relationships characterized by
alternating between extremes of idealization
and devaluation;

Identity disturbance: markedly and

persistently unstable self-image or sense of
self Impulsivity in at least two areas that are
potentially self-damaging;

Recurrent suicidal behavior;

Affective instability due to a marked reactivity

of mood;

Chronic feeling of emptiness;

Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling

anger;

Transient, stress-related paranoid ideations

or severe dissociative symptoms;

39. Dr. Manalo was able to conclude the psychological

disorder of Respondent through psychodynamic
formulation in which Dr. Manalo said
The respondent grew up second but was the
first male child. He was a very cute kid and
easily became the apple of the family’s eyes.
The father however was based in Cagayan
and was seldom seen plus the fact that he
was busy with his womanizing making him an
absentee father. The respondent then fixated
his love towards his mother who was then
busy with her career as an optometrist. He
didn’t get reciprocated for the love he yearns
for and was left with caregivers.

The separation individuation he was supposed

to develop as a child never happened. Still he
continued with his Elektra complex as he was
often showered with gifts by the mother to
compensate for her lack of time for him. At
the time his attention was supposed to revert
back to the parent of the same sex, his father
was gone spending most of his time with his
mistresses. This made him revert back to the
mother as a love object but made him fear
more being abandoned and alone. This also
made him develop the splitting of people into
his friends or enemies but this was also part
of his fear of rejection.

The anger and aggressiveness developed

later as a result of his insecurities and feeling
of emptiness as he was never satisfied with
his love objects as he would always fear being
left or rejected. This eventually led to poor
impulse and anger control as it also pave a
way to release his frustrations.

He wanted to be dependent but once he felt

he would be rejected then he becomes violent
as that can no longer be tolerated by his
psyche.

All of this made him develop a cocoon that

gives him a sense of control by being the
aggressor but it strains his relationships as he
tends to be controlling and dependent worsen
by his incapability to empathize with people
in his milieu.
 40. Dr. Manalo recommends:

It is therefore recommended to the

Honorable Court that the marriage between
petitioner and respondent be declared
annulled.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, with the abovementioned premises

considered, it is respectfully prayed upon this Honorable Court
that the marriage of the parties be declared null and void
from the beginning under Article 36 of the Family Code.

Petitioner also prays for other reliefs as may be deemed

just and equitable.

Makati City for Manila City, Philippines, 2 October 2019.

By:

ZAFRANCO AND ASSOCIATES LAW OFFICE

Counsel for Plaintiff
48th Flr, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Ave.,
Makati City, Philippines
Tel no. 02 762 4871

Through:

ATTY. HERACLEO ROSS P. ZAFRANCO

Roll No. 11303
IBP No. 21222/06-21-21/RIZAL
PTR No. 84560/06-22-21/RIZAL
MCLE Compliance No. Z-2493592
+63 917 522 8178
attyheracleo@zalo.com

Copy furnished:

Respondent
Office of the Solicitor General
VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION AGAINST FORUM
SHOPPING

I, MARIA LUISA RAMOS, of legal age, do hereby state

that I am the Petitioner in this case; I have read its contents
and affirm that they are true and correct to the best of my
own personal knowledge; I hereby certify that there is no
other case commenced or pending before any court involving
the same parties and the same issue and that, should I learn
of such a case, I shall notify the court within five (5) days
from my notice.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have signed this instrument on

2 October 2019.

MARIA LUISA RAMOS

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me in the City of

Makati on this day of 28 August 2019, affiant exhibiting before
me his community tax certificate no. ________ issued on
January 2019 at Manila City.

Notary Public
Until 25 January 2020
PTR No. 748596
Issued at Makati City
On 25 January 2019

Doc. No. __
Page No. __
Book No. __
Series of 2019.
ANNEXES A-F