Part II
Making the Husbands' Switching Work
Willing to formalize his relationships with Joana, Jeremiah, her new fiance, proposed to marry her. However, both Joana and Emilio are still married. Since there is no divorce law in the Philippines, they needed to file a petition for annulment of marriage with the proper authority. The annulment of marriage will not be granted unless it is signed by Joana's husband. The latter told her that he would be willing to assist in that endeavor if he is paid Php100, 000 which is equivalent to $2,350. He then offered her Php31,000 or $725 from that amount for her personal needs, to which she agreed.
Not a bad deal for Joana: among other things, she will make a profit of $725 and have a new husband. She explained the annulment paperwork to her fianc and indicated to him that Emilio has refused to sign it unless he receives $2,350. Jeremiah gave her the "go ahead," not suspecting that he was being defrauded by both parties. Money really talks, as they say, doesn't it?
This story gets more thrilling and ticklish to some people because a week after Jeremiah and Joana had tied the knots, she introduced Emilio to her new husband as a close cousin and trusted member of the family and asked her husband to hire him as the family driver or chauffeur. Not knowing who Emilio was, Jeremiah agreed to hire him as a driver, upon Joana's recommendation.Desirable Opportunity or Scary
Situation
Imagine the possibility of the formation of a "love triangle" within this family, which could be lethal to the foreign national who married Joana. This is not the most desirable situation for anyone to be in because Emilio was Joana's first love and former husband. And, now he is again a part of the family by default. The most desirable window of opportunity is now open to him. He has access to everything in the household: money, food, lodging, and most of all, Jeremiah's new wife.
Matter of fact, Joana has the obligation to agree to her former husband's demands or he could spill the beans.
That put him in nearly full control, at least indirectly. This is not amusing at all to know that when Jeremiah travels overseas, Emilio is the one who sleeps with his former wife as nothing has ever changed.Because of Joana and Jeremiah's union, the kids live in a rather modern four-bedroom home, attend good schools and have the required school supplies: new school uniforms, books, computer, and more. Additionally, the girls and the boy have had for the first time in their lives plenty of toys to play with; the older kids some classmates with whom to communicate via the Internet. These kids are privileged to join their parents annually on vacation to different islands and resorts. Their lives are truly complete because they still have their biological father around the house.
Not all husbands' switching are created equal. Some former husbands have categorically refused to sign the annulment documents; some have quarreled with their wives because they became too jealous about such a drastic move.
Regardless of the decision that these "irresponsible husbands" made, their wives ended up their marriage with them anyway. Thereby, these Filipino women have won the first round on husbands' switching one way or the other.
Is this trend a good or an evil thing that is infiltrating the Filipino society? Did Filipino women who have opted to do husbands' switching ever care about the sanctity of marriage in the first place? I think not. It appears to me that these women have replaced the phrase "Till death do us part" by "Till greener pasture do us part."
Nonetheless, those who belong to the Catholic faith and strongly believe in the sanctity of marriage condemn husbands' switching and find this trend rather repulsive, to say the least. At the other end of the spectrum, there is another segment of the Filipinos who is asking what in the world is going on in the Filipino society today, and yet another segment of the population who does not seem to care one way or the other. You be the judge.
Meet Filipinas On Cherry Blossoms!
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