apart but still together
psst!! want to break free from your husband and get your sweet revenge at the same time. then read on....
in the olden days, prior to the famous article 36 of the family code, couples trapped in loveless marriages know the law on legal separation by heart. to them, this is the light, nay the only flicker, at the end of the long, dark, and narrow tunnel. it doesn't matter if this provision only gives them a hybrid of a freedom, a half liberation, a semi redemption. better than nothing they surmised. better to be leashed than be shackled.
in theory, legal separation is easier to prove than declaration of nullity. the grounds provided are those which occur after all of the wedding gifts have already been opened, when the euphoria of honeymoon is already over and when the couples have already realized that cute and funny, when seen on a daily basis, is sometimes corny and irritating.
this particular provision of the family code provides for the exception to the "no return, no exchange" policy in marriage. meaning, even in marriage, the law is aware that there is such a thing as "buyer's remorse."
why buyer's remorse?
because this law presumes the validity of the transaction (marriage) yet allows the parties to disregard it on various legal grounds.
because this law recognizes the possibility that an otherwise perfectly valid marriage in theory could sometimes be totally imperfect in practice and the parties should be allowed to live separately for their mutual benefit.
the grounds provided by the law are:
Art. 55. A petition for legal separation may be filed on any of the following grounds:
(1) Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner;
(2) Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation;
(3) Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or inducement;
(4) Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if pardoned;
(5) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the respondent;
(6) Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;
(7) Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad;
(8) Sexual infidelity or perversion;
(9) Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner; or
(10) Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year.
the battered woman can invoke ground no. 1, and stop the daily punching and cursing sessions inflicted to her by her loving husband.
a woman imprisoned in a denomination totally averse to her religious conviction can finally break free from the spiritual tyranny she has to endure.
the wife can sever her marital bonds from the husband who is languishing in jail for having raped his own daughter,
a man could not be forced to remain married to a woman who has the same sexual preference as him. imagine the feeling of inadequacy that this man has to endure daily.
a wife could not be made to suffer the indignity of her husband's demand for "menage-a-trois"
the suffering of the abandoned spouse who has no clue on her husband's whereabouts can be put to an end thru this law.
if granted, the petition for legal separation shall have the following effects:
(1) The spouses shall be entitled to live separately from each other, but the marriage bonds shall not be severed;
(2) The absolute community or the conjugal partnership shall be dissolved and liquidated but the offending spouse shall have no right to any share of the net profits earned by the absolute community or the conjugal partnership, which shall be forfeited in accordance with the provisions of Article 43(2);
(3) The custody of the minor children shall be awarded to the innocent spouse, subject to the provisions of Article 213 of this Code; and
(4) The offending spouse shall be disqualified from inheriting from the innocent spouse by intestate succession. Moreover, provisions in favor of the offending spouse made in the will of the innocent spouse shall be revoked by operation of law. (106a)
this route is taken by those who do not want anything to do with their exes but still want to have a modicum of control to the lives of the other half just to have their sweet revenge.
why sweet revenge?
because couples who are legally separated can not legally enter into a new marriage. in legal separation, the marriage bond is not severed. consequently the offended ex wife or the ex husband would be happy with the thought that no matter what, the new flavor of the month would always be a querida or a boy toy. then they could always mouth these famous words
"you're nothing but a second rate trying hard copycat"
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