In the Philippines, costly marriage annulments spur calls to allow divorce
Al Jazeera
Bill to legalise divorce offers hope to Filipino women currently relying on expensive and lengthy annulment process.
Manila, the Philippines – Veronica Bebero recalls the despair she felt being interrogated by police inside a locked room at the United States Embassy in Manila.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) investigators wanted to know why she had used fake marriage annulment documents for her US visa application.
Tears streaming down her face, the Manila-based acupuncturist remembers saying: “This has to be a nightmare, right?”
Bebero had turned to a woman who claimed to be a judicial official to secure an annulment after the COVID-19 pandemic derailed her efforts to go through the usual court process.
After she and her US finance had paid some 500,000 Philippine pesos (USD 8,862) in legal and admin fees, Bebero was attracted by the promise of a speedy annulment for a fee of 210,000 Philippine pesos ($3,722).
