DNA test leads to marriage annulment in Bacolod

MANILA, Philippines - After eight years, a DNA test on their baby spelled doom for the marriage of an overseas Filipino worker and his wife, which a judge ordered annulled in Bacolod City. Online news site The News Today reported that Judge Ray Alan Drilon ordered the annulment based on the DNA test results that the child was not the husband's. “This is one marriage, which failed because of deceit and concealment by the wife, regarding the paternity of the child, which she delivered after the marriage. There is no question that defendant spouse was impregnated by a man other than her husband, and she made her husband believe that he was the father," Drilon's decision stated. Drilon ordered the Civil Registrar to change the surname of the child to the mother’s maiden name and remove the name of the husband as father of the child. Court records showed the husband, the complainant in this case, returned in 2001 from his work as an electronics engineer in the United Arab Emirates. At the time, his girlfriend of 10 years showed him a "positive" pregnancy test result. Overjoyed, the man married the girl. He then went to Saudi Arabia to work, and five months later, his wife gave birth to a baby girl. But the man grew suspicious as the child was born after only five months, even after his girlfriend said the girl was born prematurely. A check with the child's medical records belied the wife's claim the girl was born prematurely. A DNA test administered on the mother showed that there are no matches that would indicate the man is the father of the child. Drilon, in his decision, said a marriage may be annulled when the consent of either party was obtained by fraud. "Concealment by the wife of the fact that at the time of the marriage she was pregnant by another man, not her husband, constitutes fraud," he said. He added marriage tainted by concealment and deceit committed by the wife made the court upholds the cause of the husband. Thus, the judge ruled that the marriage of the couple was null and void. - GMANews.TV