FACTS: Petitioner
Marietta C. Azcueta and Rodolfo Azcueta met in 1993 and got married on
July of the same year. They separated in
1997 after four years of marriage. They had no children. Marietta filed a
petition for declaration of absolute nullity of her marriage before the RTC.
Marietta averred that Rodolfo was psychologically incapacitated to comply with
the essential obligations of marriage. Petitioner complained that Rodolfo never
bothered to look for a job and instead always asked his mother for financial
assistance. When they were married it was Rodolfo’s mother who found them a
room near the Azcueta home and it was also his mother who paid the monthly
rental. Petitioner also testified that she constantly encouraged her husband to
find employment and even bought new shoes and clothes to inspire him. Sometime
later, her husband told petitioner that he already found a job and petitioner
was overjoyed. However, some weeks after, petitioner was informed that her
husband had been seen at the house of his parents when he was supposed to be at
work. Petitioner discovered that her husband didn’t actually get a job and the
money he gave her (which was supposedly his salary) came from his mother. When
she confronted him about the matter, Rodolfo allegedly cried like a child and
told her that he pretended to have a job so that petitioner would stop nagging
him about applying for a job. Petitioner complained that every time Rodolfo
would get drunk he became physically violent towards her. Their sexual
relationship was also unsatisfactory. They only had sex once a month and
petitioner never enjoyed it. When they discussed this problem, Rodolfo would
always say that sex was sacred and it should not be enjoyed nor abused. He did
not even want to have a child yet because he claimed he was not ready.
Additionally, when petitioner requested that they move to another place and
rent a small room rather than live near his parents, Rodolfo did not agree.
Because of this, she was forced to leave their residence and see if he will
follow her. But he did not. Dr. Cecilia Villegas testified that Rodolfo is
suffering from Dependent Personality Disorder characterized by loss of
self-confidence, constant self-doubt, inability to make his own decisions and
dependency on other people. She added that the root cause of this psychological
problem was a cross-identification with the mother who was the dominant figure
in the family considering that respondent’s father was a seaman and always out
of the house. She stated that this problem began during the early stages in his
life but manifested only after the celebration of his marriage. According to
Dr. Villegas, this kind of problem was also severe because he will not be able
to make and to carry on the responsibilities expected of a married person. It
was incurable because it started in early development and therefore deeply
ingrained into his personality. RTC declared marriage void ab initio. CA
reversed RTC’s decision.
ISSUE: W/N Rodolfo is
psychologically incapacitated
HELD: Rodolfo’s
psychological incapacity was also established to have clearly existed at the
time of and even before the celebration of marriage. Witnesses were united in
testifying that from the start of the marriage, Rodolfo’s irresponsibility,
overdependence on his mother and abnormal sexual reticence were already
evident. These manifestations of Rodolfo’s Dependent Personality Disorder must
have existed even prior to the marriage being rooted in his early development
and a by-product of his upbringing and family life.
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