MANUEL G. ALMELOR V.
RTC o Their marital relationship was
GR — 179620 generally harmonious.
26/08/2008 o That the true cause of Leonida's
hostility against him was their
——— professional rivalry as he and
her family have competing or
Topics: rival hospitals in the same
Laws involved: Art. 36, 45, 46 of the Family vicinity.
Code o He is not a cruel father and at
———. most he only imposed the
necessary discipline on the
FACTS children.
Petitioner Manuel G. Almelor and o There was nothing wrong for him
Respondent Leonida Trinidad were to return love and affection of
married on January 29, 1989. Their union the person who reared and
bore three children. looked after him and his siblings.
Manuel and Leonida are both medical o That Leonida found fault in this
practitioners, an anesthesiologist and a otherwise healthy relationship
pediatrician, respectively. because of her very jealous and
After 11 years of marriage, Leonida filed possessive nature. And as a
a petition with the RTC in Las Pinas City result, drove Manuel to avoid the
to annul their marriage on the ground company of female friends and
that Manuel was psychologically to confide with his male friends.
incapacitated to perform his marital But despite this, Leonida instead
obligations. conjured up stories about his
Leonida testified that she first met sexual preference.
Manuel when they worked as medical To prove Leonida's allegations, she
student clerks. At the time, she regarded presented Dr. Valentina del Fonso
Manuel as a very thoughtful person. Garcia, a clinical psychologist, as
However, Manuel's kind and gentle testimony.
demeanor did not last long. o Dr. Garcia conducted evaluative
o He was the perfect husband and interviews and a battary of
father in the public eye but he psychiatric tests on Leonida. She
was a harsh disciplinarian, who's also had a one-time interview
unreasonably meticulous and with Manuel and their eldest
easily angered in his privite life. child.
o Manuel unreasonably imposed o Dr. Garcia concluded that
discipline on his children. This Manuel is psychologically
was the cause of Leonida and incapacitated. Such incapacity is
Manuel's fights. This was a stark marked by antecedence, and
contrast with Manuel's lavish appears to be incurable.
affection for his mother. To corroborate Manuel's version, he
o Further adding to her woes was presented his brother, Jesus.
his concealment of his o Jesus narrated that he usually
homosexuality. It was first stayed at Manuel's house during
aroused when she noticed his weekly trips to Manila. He
Manuel's closeness to his male witnessed the generally
friends. She alledgely caught harmonious relationship
him having a indiscreet between the spouses.
telephone conversation o Jesus further testified that on the
manifesting his affection for a day Leonida alledgely saw
male caller. Manuel kiss another man, he
o She also found several was actually with Manuel as they
homosexual materials in his were going home from Bicol.
possession. Hence, there was no such
o Her worse fears were confirmed incident.
when she saw Manuel kiss Manuel expressed his intention ot refute
another man, a certain Dr. the findings of Dr. Garcia but he was
Nogales, on the lips. unable to present his own expert
Manuel maintained that: psychiatrist.
RTC granted the petition not on the of vitiated consent by virtue of
ground of Article 36 but under Article fraud.
45(3), in relation to Article 46(4). We find no sufficient proof was
o "both legally and biologically, presented to substantiate the
homosexuality is, indeed, allegations that Manuel is a homosexual
generally incompatible with and that he concealed this to Leonida at
heterosexual marriage. This is the time of their marriage. The RTC
reason enough that in this considered the public perception of
jurisdiction the law recognizes Manuel's sexual preference without
marriage as a special contract corroboration of witnesses. Also, it took
exclusively between a man and cognizance of Manuel's peculiarities and
a woman and this when interpreted it against his sexuality.
homosexuality has trespassed o Even assuming IF he was
into marriage, the same law homosexual, the RTC cannot
provides ample remedies to appreciate it as ground to annul
correct the situation. " his marriage with Leonida. A
Manuel filed a notice of appeal but was marriage may be annulled when
denied due course. consent of either party was
Manuel filed a petition for annulment of obtained by fraud, such as
judgement with the CA but was denied. concealment of homosexuality.
Hence this petition. Nowhere in the said decision
ISSUE/S was it proven by preponderance
1. WON CA ERRED IN UPHOLDING RTC of evidence that Manuel was a
DECISION DECLARING THE MARRIAGE AS homosexual at the onset of his
NULL AND VOID ON THE GROUND OF marriage and that he
VITIATED CONSENT ON THE GROUNDS deliberately his such fact to his
OF Fraud DUE TO CONCEALMENT OF wife. Concealment of
HOMOSEXUALITY. - YES, THE LOWER homosexuality and not
COURTS ARE WRONG homosexuality per se vitiates
the consent of the innocent
HELD/RATIO: party. Such concealment
presupposes bad faith and intent
1. ON THE FIRST ISSUE: to defraud the other party into
Concealment of homosexuality is the giving consent to marriage.
proper ground to annul a marriage, not
homosexuality per se. ULTIMATELY, WHEREFORE, the petition is
Manuel is a desperate man determined GRANTED. The appealed Decision is
to salvage what remains of his marriage. REVERSED AND SET ASIDE and the petition
Persistent in his quest, he fought back in the trial court to annul the marriage is
all the heavy accusations of incapacity, DISMISSED. HSaEAD
cruelty, and doubted masculinity thrown
at him. ———
When RTC declared that Leonida's .
petition for nullity, it had no basis at all
because the supporting grounds it relied
upon cannot legally make a case under
article 36 of the family code. The lower
court should have dismissed outright the
petition for not meeting the guidelines
set in Molina case.
What Leonida attempted to demonstrate
were Manuel's homosexual tendencies
by citing overt acts generally
predominant among homosexual
individuals. She wanted to prove that
the perceived homosexuality rendered
Manuel incapable of fulfilling the
essential marital obligations.
But instead of dismissing the petition,
RTC nullified the marriage between
Manuel and Leonida on the ground