Philippine courts cannot annul a marriage on the basis of five years of separation, multiple lawyers said, contrary to false posts shared thousands of times on Facebook. These posts also misleadingly claim spouses who have separated for five years can have their marriage annulled "without a court hearing". In the mainly Catholic country that is the world's last remaining holdout on divorce, a court trial is required for estranged couples wanting a genuine way out, lawyers told AFP.

The false claim was shared more than 3,000 times after it was posted online on July 12, 2022 by a Facebook page called "Annulment Processing Services".

The post's caption claims in part: "It's finally possible -- 5 years of separation can be a ground for annulment."

It goes on to state: "Question: What if I live far away or outside the Philippines, can I still file [for annulment]? Answer: Yes, because there will be no appearance and no hearings and the lawyer will take care of everything.

"Annulment is filed wether (sic) or not your estranged spouse knew so. If your estranged spouse doesn't care at all, the annulment is more favorable to be granted."

The post features an image of a purported "Certificate of No Marriage Record" from the Philippine Statistics Authority for a couple whose marriage has supposedly been nullified.

In a reply to an enquiry sent to the WhatsApp number provided on the page, an administrator told AFP that the "annulment process" would require an acceptance fee of 150,000...

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