Adultery, immigration, and the Academy Awards

by Atty. Emmanuel Samonte Tipon

Immigration processing delays are sometimes blamed for the growing incidence of adultery committed by a wife who is left abroad waiting for the availability of a visa. But cuckolded husbands should ask themselves if they are not the ones at fault. Did they rush into marriage? Are they romantic enough? Are they caring enough? Can they make the wife laugh? Do they punctuate every overseas call with “I love you”?

The sister of a lawful permanent resident called an Ilocano lawyer saying that her brother was very distraught and could not call directly because he found out upon returning to the Philippines that his wife had been going out with another man. He had petitioned for her and he had returned to the Philippines to accompany her to a visa interview after which they would come to the U.S. with their minor child. The lawyer suggested that the brother should be the one to call when he was not so distressed.

While visiting with a Caucasian lawyer in his office, the Ilocano lawyer asked what was the best advice to a husband who had discovered that the wife he was petitioning had betrayed him. The Caucasian lawyer said that he had just received an e-mail on adultery and proceeded to read it: “I found out that my wife was unfaithful. So I turned to religion. I converted to ____ (a Middle Eastern religion). Then I asked my brethren to stone my wife to death.”

In the Philippines, the legacy that the Spanish conquistadores gave us is that when you catch your wife in the act with her paramour, you can kill both of them and suffer only the penalty of destierro (banishment) by being barred for 25 kilometers from the scene of the crime. That is still a part of the Revised Penal Code. But the cuckolded husband must catch them in the act. If they are caught while engaged in what the Filipino Supreme Court justices call “actas preludis” or foreplay, that is not encompassed in the statute and the cuckold will be prosecuted for homicide.

Since the alien who went to the Philippines is from Hawaii, he ought to consider seeing the movie “The Descendants” which is a tale of adultery with a Hawaiian setting and how the cuckolded husband handled the situation. The husband, Matt King, a lawyer, played by George Clooney, was a descendant of the royal family, and a trustee of the estate of his ancestors, tasked with disposing of the property and distributing the proceeds among his relatives to avoid the rule against perpetuities. He was too engrossed in his practice to attend to his wife who strayed from the straight and narrow path into the arms of a real estate agent. His wife was seriously injured in a boating accident and became comatose. Her father chided Clooney saying that maybe he did not give her any thrills at home, that is why she sought thrills outside the home.

Their daughter became rebellious and hated her mother which her father found inexplicable until she disclosed that she had caught her mother cheating on him. He then searched for his wife’s paramour and found him on the island of Kauai. Instead of killing him as most Filipinos who have been cuckolded would do, they had a strangely civil discussion about how the paramour had met the lawyer’s wife, whether he loved her, whether she loved him, and whether they had sex in their conjugal bed. He even suggested that the paramour should go and visit the lawyer’s dying wife. As he left the paramour’s vacation cottage, he kissed on the lips the wife of the paramour. Nakaganti’ng kaunti.  Many people in Hawaii were rooting for “The Descendants” which was a strong Academy Award contender, but probably they did not see “The Artist” which was a more entertaining movie and really deserved the award. True love triumphs over illicit love.

(Atty. Tipon has a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines. He specializes in immigration law and criminal defense. Office: 800 Bethel St., Suite 402, Honolulu, HI 96813. Tel. (808) 225-2645. E-Mail: filamlaw@yahoo.com. Website: www.MilitaryandCriminalLaw.com. He is from Laoag City and Magsingal, Ilocos Sur. He served as an Immigration Officer. He is co-author of “Immigration Law Service, 1st ed.,” an 8-volume practice guide for immigration officers and lawyers. Listen to the most funny, interesting, and useful radio program in Hawaii on KNDI at 1270, AM dial every Thursday at 7:30 a.m., rebroadcast at www.iluko.com. This article is a general overview of the subject matter discussed and is not intended as legal advice. No warranty is made by the writer or publisher as to its completeness or correctness at the time of publication.)