GR No.

222541, February 15, 2017

DEL ROSARIO v. DEL ROSARIO

FACTS:

ISSUE:

Whether or not an Expert Opinion is Absolutely Necessary in a Petition under Article 36 of the
Family Code.

RULING:

The policy of the Constitution is to protect and strengthen the family as the basic social
institution, and marriage as the foundation of the family. Because of this, the Constitution
decrees marriage as legally inviolable and protects it from dissolution at the whim of the parties.
In this regard, psychological incapacity as a ground to nullify the marriage under Article 36 of the
Family Code, as amended, should refer to the most serious cases of personality disorders clearly
demonstrative of an utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the
marriage.

The evidence need not necessarily come from the allegedly incapacitated spouse, but can come
from persons intimately related to the spouses, i.e., relatives and close friends, who could clearly
testify on the allegedly incapacitated spouse’s condition at or about the time of the marriage.
To be clear, however, the totality of the evidence must still establish the characteristics that
Santos laid down: gravity, incurability, and juridical antecedence.