PLEADINGS

I. Dissolution of marriage contravenes the constitutional protection accorded to marriage

and the family as the foundation of nation

Marriage is defined as a special contract of permanent union between a man and a

woman entered into in accordance with the law for the establishment of conjugal and family

life1. It is not just an ordinary civil contract because it also involves the interest of the State. As

an inviolable social institution, it is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the

State2. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family

as a basic autonomous social institution.

Although the Constitution does not establish the parameters of the constitutional

protection accorded to marriage and family, the legislature defines the legal aspects of marriage

and it must put into operation the constitutional provisions that protect marriage and the family

through Family Code3.

II. The Family Code is strict in granting termination of marriage to protect the sanctity of

family life

The House Bill intends to ease the access to legal processes to terminate a marriage. In

addition, it stated that the process of annulment under Executive Order No.209 or the Family

Code is extremely adversarial in nature and is very expensive. The reason for its strictness is to

1
E.O. No. 209, “Family Code of the Philippines,” Article 1
2
1987 Constitution, Article XV, Section 2
3
Kalaw v. Fernandez, G.R. No. 166357, January 14, 2015
uphold the sanctity of family as the foundation of our nation. Also, the State has an obligation to

strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development4.

A. The grounds under Family Code are exclusive

The Family Code established exclusive grounds the parties may invoke for annulment or

legal separation. The Constitution sets out a policy of protecting and strengthening the family as

the basic social institution. The exclusivity of the grounds is important because marriage, as an

inviolable institution protected by the State, cannot be dissolved at the whim of the parties5.

Also, the grounds aim to protect the aggrieved spouse against the inability of the other

spouse to fulfill marital obligation due to psychological incapacity, as well as against fraud,

physical violence or grossly abusive conduct, drug addiction or habitual alcoholism, lesbianism

or homosexuality, sexual infidelity and perversion, and abandonment, just to name a few. The

Court may grant annulment or legal separation based on the ground under Family Code.

However, these grounds remain exclusive in order to prevent the granting of termination of

marriage by the Court from being susceptible to abuse as marriage cannot be dissolved at the

whim of the parties, and in order to still uphold the sanctity of marriage.

B. The Court also favors the validity of marriage

Marriage is presumed to be valid unless proven otherwise. When it comes to the burden

of proof and the presumption of a valid marriage, the Court states in Republic v. Galang6:

4
1987 Constitution, Article XV, Section 1
5
Republic of the Philippines v. Galang. G.R. No. 168335, June 6, 2011
6
Id
 The burden of proof to show the nullity of the marriage belongs to the plaintiff.
Any doubt should be resolved in favor of the existence and continuation of the marriage
and against its dissolution and nullity. This is rooted in the fact that both our Constitution
and our laws cherish the validity of marriage and unity of the family. Thus, our
Constitution devotes an entire Article on the Family, recognizing it "as the foundation of
the nation." It decrees marriage as legally "inviolable," thereby protecting it from
dissolution at the whim of the parties. Both the family and marriage are to be "protected"
by the state.7

III. The protection of the family is strengthened by special laws

Several laws enacted by the legislative already exist to protect the welfare of the family.

The legislative must conform to the mandates of the Constitution that strengthen the family and

actively promote its total development8.

A. R.A. No. 9292

7
Id
8
1987 Constitution, Article XV, Section 2