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POST-PRESS: Narcissistic Disorder, Ground for Annulment

On 20 May 2011 (Friday), the First Division of the Philippine Court of Appeals dismissed the plea that Julie Balarbar, wife of 15 years of House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, filed questioning the November 25, 2010 decision of the Makati Regional Court declaring the marriage null and void on the ground that Balarbar had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).

Pyschiatric evaluation show a diagnosis of NPD with anti-social features, from her involvement in a shoplifting incident, her closeness to and trips abroad with her male students, and a kissing incident with a co-professor. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder Fourth Edition (DSM IV-TR) enumerated nine indicators of NPD, with only five of them needed for the diagnosis. It is not clear however which indicators have been found in the case of the Tañada annulment case.

The Archdiocese of Manila also declared their canonical marriage void ab initio (void from the start) due to "grave lack of due discretion on the part of the wife."
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  1. AnonymousMay 21, 2011 at 4:44 AM

    More, likely, psychobabble nonsense used by the Catholic Church to negate a valid marriage. The Philippine Catholic Church is becoming a "knock off" version of the American Catholic Church.

    Scandalous and sad. But this is predictable as the Philippines becomes more "westernized".

    ReplyDelete

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