“There are people who are old but behave like children and there are children who are young and yet they behave like adults.” So says Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz about the May-December affair of folk legend Freddie Aguilar and his 16-year-old girlfriend, which has undergone intense scrutiny since the singer of “Anak”brought her as his date to a music awards show last week.
Cruz, who chairs the National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said he can’t remember handling a case that involved one party being too young in an annulment proceeding. Being of age doesn’t also guarantee that one’s marriage would last, he explained. He recalled one case when the couple, both aged 34, opted for separation right after their honeymoon.
But does that make it right?
