8 Cavite judges fined for fixed annulment cases for only 160,000 pesos; Annulment packages
Rappler investigated and published its own report on the Cavite judges in 2015. One of the stories exposed was that of a court stenographer named Rosalie Maranan, who was caught in an entrapment operation for accepting bribe money for an annulment case. A certain Ella Bartrolome filed a complaint against Maranan for asking a P160,000 fixer fee in her annulment case. It was Maranan's boss, Judge Felicen, who interceded and asked jail officers to free Maranan. Sources told Rappler at the time that annulment cases had become an "industry" in Cavite. Judge Quisumbing was the one investigating these complaints at the time, but the SC found him liable too. "Instead of exercising his prerogatives in order that those under his management be kept in line, he joined in the commission of some of the reprehensible practices described in these administrative cases," the SC said. (Cavite judges found guilty of fixing annulment cases; Lian Buan @lianbuan Published 9:08 PM, February 03, 2018 Updated 11:34 PM, February 03, 2018)
Like Josie, Lani (not her real name) thought she was finally changing her life. After 18 years of separation from her first husband, 47-year-old Lani was engaged and set to go to America. In her hometown in southern Philippines, her cousin referred her to a friend who connected her to a court interpreter who, in turn, linked her to a lawyer who could handle her case. The lawyer asked her for P280,000 for a fast-track package annulment. In 2013, her case was filed in a Cotabato court under Judge Cader Indar. The decision came out in 6 months, a neat bundle comprised of a court decision signed by Indar, a CENOMAR and annotated marriage certificate. She presented her papers to the US embassy as a requirement for her fiancée visa and waited. After 6 months, she made a follow-up and was asked to re-verify her papers with the PSA. Lani told her lawyer about this and he insisted that they would take care of the re-verification themselves. Not satisfied, she went to the Cotabato court. Lani’s case did not exist. Not only that, Indar had already been dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2012, the year before she received her court decree for “the reprehensible act of issuing decisions that voided marital unions, without conducting judicial proceedings. Such malfeasance not only makes a mockery of marriage and its life-changing consequences, but likewise grossly violates the basic norms of truth, justice and due process.” (Part 5: Annulment scam; Ana P. Santos and Riziel Cabreros Published 10:00 AM, December 31, 2015 Updated 3:24 PM, November 29, 2017)
Like Josie, Lani (not her real name) thought she was finally changing her life. After 18 years of separation from her first husband, 47-year-old Lani was engaged and set to go to America. In her hometown in southern Philippines, her cousin referred her to a friend who connected her to a court interpreter who, in turn, linked her to a lawyer who could handle her case. The lawyer asked her for P280,000 for a fast-track package annulment. In 2013, her case was filed in a Cotabato court under Judge Cader Indar. The decision came out in 6 months, a neat bundle comprised of a court decision signed by Indar, a CENOMAR and annotated marriage certificate. She presented her papers to the US embassy as a requirement for her fiancée visa and waited. After 6 months, she made a follow-up and was asked to re-verify her papers with the PSA. Lani told her lawyer about this and he insisted that they would take care of the re-verification themselves. Not satisfied, she went to the Cotabato court. Lani’s case did not exist. Not only that, Indar had already been dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2012, the year before she received her court decree for “the reprehensible act of issuing decisions that voided marital unions, without conducting judicial proceedings. Such malfeasance not only makes a mockery of marriage and its life-changing consequences, but likewise grossly violates the basic norms of truth, justice and due process.” (Part 5: Annulment scam; Ana P. Santos and Riziel Cabreros Published 10:00 AM, December 31, 2015 Updated 3:24 PM, November 29, 2017)