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CORA, an adult friend of a thirteen-year-old
provinci-ana who is madly in love with a 20-year-old kabayan, wrote
us a letter, seeking advice. The girl’s boyfriend is a school
dropout. He leads an easy life for he makes lots of money being his
father’s assistant. And the father is a gambling lord.
The girl is still in the high
school and her parents are planning to finance her all the way until
she becomes a nursing professional. They have high hopes that will
excel and earn so much either her or abroad. She is, however, bent
on getting married soonest to this guapito, fearing that he might be
taken away from her by other women. The parents vigorously object to
her plan both because she is still a minor and because her intended
is in a line of business they do not approve. They are staunch
Catholics who heed what the bishops say against gambling. They do
not want to be in any way connected with the boy friends family.
What they girl now wants to do is
either elope with her handsome lover or commit suicide.
“Fortunately,” the letter
writer says, “I came across your column trying to spread the Good
News in order to help develop responsible citizenry among our
people.”
What should I tell this young
girl?
Reply to correspondent
Dear Cora,
Our initial advice to you is to
pray to our Almighty God to enlighten and guide that poor girl. Tell
her, and teach her how, to pray the Holy Rosary daily and start a
novena to the Divine Mercy or the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the
day-toa-day recitation of its chaplet. Such devotion has brought
about many miracles around the world. Remind her that everything in
this vale of tears, including life, is temporary—all will come to
an end and we do not know when that end comes. Hence, she should
place God at the center of her life—and she will be led to the
Eternal Kingdom. Tell that our Lord Jesus Christ said: What does it
profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his
soul?
Thrill-killers
Her parents’ objection to her
marrying the young guapito is correct. Perhaps she thinks they are
thrill-killers, wet blankets preventing her from enjoying sexual
pleasure. Make it clear to her that her parents are absolutely
correct—she is still very young and, in fact, is forbidden by law
from marrying.
Tell her to imagine the kind of
life she would be having with a school dropout whose job is to be
the helper of a gambling lord. What will happen to him and his
father if their illegal activities are uncovered by the authorities?
Tell her about marriage and its
requisites. The Family Code of the Philippines (Executive Order 209)
defines marriage as a “special contract of permanent union between
a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the
establishment of conjugal and family life.” It is the foundation
of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature,
consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to
stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property
relations “during the marriage” within the limits provided by
that code.
Legal capacity, consent
The essential requisites of
marriage are:
1. Legal capacity of the
contracting parties who must be a male and a female at least 18
years of age; and
2. Consent freely given in the
presence of the solemnizing officer.
71st anniversary
of Court of Appeals
We have been invited to the 71st
Foundation Anniversary of the Court of Appeals tomorrow (February
1). The court is very close to our hearts. For more than eight
years, we worked there up to 3 a.m. avoiding socialization, to
dispose of cases raffled to us.
With the sudden appointment of
additional justices three years ago, the CA’s budget should be
tripled so that it can give the special allowances due to its
employees and retired justices. Anyway, we congratulate Presiding
Justice Ruben Reyes as well as its officials/employees for upholding
the good name of the Court of Appeals.
Above All Things, let us ponder
on the following statement of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ:
“If a Kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot
stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not
be able to stand.” (Mark 3:24-25).
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