‘She's telling lies about me'

Dear Tita,

When I married Adel, I thought she was the sweetest, nicest person I had ever known. How wrong I was. She turned out to be a nagger, foul-mouth screaming fishwife when she got angry at me. Even when there were other people around, she would embarrass me in front of them. My friends avoided coming to our house because of Adel's bad manners.

I tried to keep our marriage going because of our two kids but life with her was getting to be impossible. I began staying out late to avoid confrontations with her.

Still she would throw things at me, shouting obscenities in the middle of the night.

One time she was so mad that she rushed at me with a wooden stool. To avoid being hit, I pushed her away and she fell. She became hysterical and drove me out of the house in the middle of the night. The next day she reported me to the Barangay, claiming I hit her and showing her bruises when she fell.

I am now staying with my married sister and I am forbidden to go near my family. She has been telling all sorts of lies about me, claiming that I have paramours and that I beat her up constantly. How can I refute her lies about me? I miss my kids so much but I can't go to visit them. What do I do?

DESPERATE HUSBAND

Dear Desperate Husband,

Get a lawyer to help you with your case. Your wife's previous bad behavior in front of other people would surely help your case. In cases like this, separation seems to be the only solution. Living with her again must be the worse thing you can do. You have been a battered husband too long.

Have you considered getting an annulment? It might be the only answer to your misery.

TITA