REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
QUEZON CITY

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HB. NOZB56

Introduced by HON. AL FRANCIS C. BICHARA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to acknowledge a factual and existing marital condition that plague
not a few unions. Without dwelling on the deeper reasons behind the separation, this
bill offers a remedy without opening a pandora’s box or a can of worms that are usually
present during annulment proceedings.

Five years of actual separation would make the couples estrange enough that a
Possible reconciliation is nil. Besides, five years should have made the parties adjust
and move on with their individual lives without further straining the relationship. Thus,
they should be granted the best relief that they can have, annulment. This way, they
can go on separate ways peacefully as no other reason is needed to justify the
annulment.

Without the parties having the need to prove any allegation or anything of
substance, the court in this case can simplify and expedite the proceedings so that
tedious and expensive litigation may be avoided. Five years or more of separation
should have been enough that a protracted litigation extending the period will simply
prolong the agony of both parties who in all likelihood would have wanted the legal ties
severed as soon as possible so they can move on with their lives.

This is especially true when both parties mutually agree to the annulment so they
both can have the relief they so fervently seek. Further and more importantly and unlike
in the other grounds for annulment, the court in this case need not investigate nor prove
Collusion between the parties because the parties simply have to prove that they are in
fact separated for at least five years and this fact can be extracted through sworn
statements from their relatives who while having moral and emotional interests in the
union and might not be supportive of the annulment, are limited to attesting to the fact of
actual separation.


The bill also seeks to grant relief to the under-privileged and the indigents who
find themselves in similar situations but could not seek redress from the courts for the
simple reason that they cannot afford the expensive services of lawyers. Like in Small
Claims Courts, they will now be allowed to seek annulment without having to engage
lawyers’ services. The court may use a language that ‘simple laymen will understand,
simplify, abbreviate and expedite the proceedings so as to avoid tedious and expensive
trials.

Lastly and most importantly, the beneficiary of this speedy proceedings would be
the children who may have been born to unions involving one or both parties who may
have contracted a previous marriage. In speedily granting annulment on this ground,
the court could be an unwitting partner in extending legitimacy status to these children.
without whose fault are carrying the stigma of being branded illegitimate.

For this reason, the urgent approval of this bill is earnestly sou;

AL FRANCIS C. BICHARA

2" District, Albay


‘SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)
FIRST REGULAR SESSION )

“We no, 8856

Introduced by HON. AL FRANCIS C. BICHARA

AN ACT AMENDING TITLE |, CHAPTER 3, OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 209,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
PRESCRIBING ADDITIONAL GROUND FOR ANNULMENT

Section 1, Title |, Chapter 3 of Executive Order No, 209, otherwise known as the Family
Code of the Philippines, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"TITLE |— MARRIAGE
"CHAPTER 3 — VOID AND VOIDABLE MARRIAGES

“Art. 45 - A, A marriage may also be annulled if the parties
have been separated in fact for at least five years.

On this ground, both parties may mutually
seek for the annulment, and while no judgment on
the pleadings, summary judgment, or confession of
judgment shall be allowed, the parties shall both be
required as far as practicable to present affidavits or
certifications from parents, children of legal age, and
other relatives attesting to the fact of the separation
period without prejudice to whatever documents the
court may further require.

If either or both parties are indigents or cannot
afford the services of lawyers, the court shall
dispense with the need for lawyers and keep the
Processes as simple and as expediently as possible
to avoid tedious and expensive litigation proceedings.


In cases where both parties mutually seek the
annulment on this ground, the court shall likewise
find ways to expedite the proceedings to avoid
protracted and expensive trials.”

Sec. 2. Effectivity clause. — This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days
following its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of
general circulation

Approved.