Hiding homosexuality from spouse is fraud, ground for annulment — SC
"Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of a conjugal and family life," the SC Second Division said in an 8-page decision.
"Thus, a marriage may be annulled when consent was obtained by fraud," it added.
According to the court, the couple got together while the man was working in Saudi Arabia, a year after meeting each other on social media.
He returned to the Philippines in 2012 for a vacation and they met in 2012.
However, on their first date, the woman noticed that the man did not hold her hand or kiss her. He also avoided sitting beside her during meals or while commuting.
In explanation for his behavior, the man said he was shy and lacked confidence.
The SC said the couple had a long-distance relationship while the man was working in Saudi Arabia.
However, after getting married, the SC said he continued to avoid intimacy and started arguments to avoid being close to her. He then returned overseas two months after the wedding and stopped communicating with his wife.
In June 2015, the woman found magazines with half-naked and naked male models among her husband's things. The man admitted that he was homosexual when confronted, leading her to live with her parents.
According to the SC, the woman then filed for annulment, claiming her consent to the marriage was based on fraud and she would not have married him if she knew.
Both the regional trial court and the Court of Appeals denied her petition.
For its part, the SC said the woman was able to prove by the evidentiary threshold of preponderance of evidence that the man concealed his homosexuality from her.
It cited Article 45 of the Family Code, which states that a marriage can be annulled if one party's consent was obtained through fraud, as long as the couple did not continue living together after discovering fraud.
The SC said Article 45 also further specifies that hiding one's homosexuality from a spouse is considered fraud.
"With the lies and deception, coupled by their failure to cohabit as husband and wife, it is evident that [the man] merely tricked [the woman] to marry him by making her believe that he is a heterosexual," the SC said.
The SC said it could not take lightly the man's admission and his silence.
"No woman would put herself in a shameful position if the fact that she married a homosexual was not true. More so, no man would keep silent when his sexuality is being questioned thus creating disgrace in his name," it said.
The decision, penned by Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr., was promulgated in March and made public in July. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
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