IT was a love story borne out of passion under strange circumstances that might only be found in steamy romance novels and Tagalog blockbuster movies.
The man was a prisoner detained on illegal drug charges.
While the woman was a pretty guest relations officer (GRO) visiting a relative in jail.
They were introduced and as fate would have it, they fell in love at first sight.
The woman became a constant visitor of the jail and they soon found themselves “inseparable” and “madly in love.”
Four months after they first laid eyes on each other, Kerwin Eslabon-Espinosa and Annalou Mabitad-Llaguno tied the knot, “thinking that destiny brought them together.”
And in a scene straight out of soap operas, they were married inside the male dormitory of the Cebu City Jail in Barangay Kalunasan before Rev. Fr. John Buban, a Roman Catholic priest.
It was the morning of April 25, 2008. He was 27 and she, 22.
The two believed that “they were meant for each other.”
But soon after the wedding, “the honey(moon) stage came to pass”, as bitter and violent arguments were sparked by jealousy and stories of infidelity.
“The short period that the parties have known each other before they hurriedly committed themselves to a lifetime bond rendered them totally unprepared to the realities when highly charged emotions started to lay low and the honey(moon) stage came to pass,” said a petition to annul the marriage filed by Espinosa against Llaguno, obtained by Cebu Daily News.
The petition before Branch 12 of the Ormoc City Regional Trial Court was filed on December 17, 2014 or more than six years after they were married.
In his petition, Espinosa told the Court: “While petitioner (Kerwin) found respondent (Annalou) to be friendly, he did not realize that her congeniality, particularly with other men, had some strings attached to it; while in jail, petitioner heard rumors that respondent was having an affair with other men.”
Represented by his lawyer, Jonnah John Ungab, Espinosa also claimed that one of the men dated by Llaguno, was a certain “Wister Diaz,” whom he described as a “known figure in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City.”
Espinosa’s “fit of jealousy was further fueled by respondent’s seldom visits to him in jail,” the petition read.
“Petitioner also found respondent to be too vain and materialistic. She would see to it that she gets the latest gadgets, the signature and expensive bags, and fancy dresses and shoes. While it would not be a serious problem to be wanting on these fabulous items, nonetheless, the means of respondent who meagerly earned as a guest relation officer in a bar, prohibited her from acquiring these things legally, “ Espinosa’s petition read adding that he heard rumors that his wife “played around to satisfy her fancy.”
Because of the rumors and Llaguno’s seldom visits to the city jail where Espinosa languished while awaiting the resolution of his case, “there were times when he (Kerwin) would inflict physical harm on the respondent (Annalou) when discussions about fidelity issues heat up. He could not control his emotions and often lost control of himself,” read the annulment petition.
Espinosa, “out of pure immaturity would also indulge in extra-marital affairs to get even with the respondent even while he was in jail,” it added.
Constant quarrels due to a lack of trust and confidence were said to be the cycle of Espinosa and Llaguno’s relationship, according to the annulment petition.
Return to Ormoc
According to the petition, the criminal cases against Espinosa were eventually dismissed for lack of evidence and he was released from jail. He then decided to go home to Ormoc City “to be safe from the outrage of the police when the cases were dismissed as his name has always been linked to the known ‘illegal drug personalities’ in Cebu.”
“The couple went together to Ormoc City and stayed there until petitioner figured in a shooting incident. As a result, petitioner suffered a gunshot would that put his health in danger,” the petition read.
Espinosa was arrested and charged in court for frustrated homicide, illegal possession of firearms and possession of dangerous drugs.
“In the midst of his crises, where his liberty is at stake and his health in peril, respondent (Annalou) abandoned him; his incarceration… eventually caused serious and further damage to their fragile marital relationship,” the petition said adding that Espinosa could no longer contact Llaguno when she left for Cebu after the incident.
Llaguno’s “utter insensitivity to give significance to the marriage and inability to understand, assume and discharge the essential marital obligation of living together, giving mutual help and support, observing love, respect and fidelity,” were Espinosa’s grounds in filing for the declaration of nullity of his marriage.
The petition blamed Llaguno’s alleged psychological incapacity to her “inner unresolved conflict brought about by her own dysfunctional childhood.”
Llaguno was however described as a very loving wife by her father-in-law, arrested Albuera mayor, Rolando Espinosa Sr., in a talk with Cebu Daily News earlier.
On account of Llaguno’s murder last September 30, Kerwins lawyer Jonnah John Ungab filed a motion to dismiss the annulment petition.