Guy backed out of marrying his pregnant GF. The Supreme Court (SC) upheld his conviction. Nine years, four months max.

A miserable marriage starts looking like the lighter sentence.

SC didn’t say breaking up is a crime.

Some relationships? Terrible. You see them at restaurants. Nobody talking. Both on the phone. P8,000 dinner. Very romantic.

Leave. You can leave. Cancel the wedding. Change your mind. You can say “I love you” in January, wake up in July, look at the love of your life, realize she is actually the love of somebody else’s life. Go find that guy.

Consent is still consent. Man can say no. Woman can say no. Late? Still no. Flowers paid? Too bad, entourage already has the gowns.

SC was clear about it. Man was not convicted because he only broke a promise to marry.

He’s a cop. She’s a teacher. In love. Baby on the way. Families meet. Agree they should marry.

They schedule a trip to the registrar for a marriage license. He didn’t show. OK. Then he comes back. Apologizes. Asks to reschedule. They eventually lodge the application together. Then he withdraws it without notice.

This man saw the exit and walked past it several times. Incredible.

There’s a very useful sentence for situations like this: “I don’t want to marry you.”

Catastrophic. Very painful. Also extremely efficient.

You voice it, she cries, her mother calls you, your mother calls you. Your uncle suddenly has very strong views about your upbringing. Everybody hates you. You’re done.

Instead, this thing goes all the way up to the Supreme Court. The lower courts found serious psychological harm.

SC said the conduct had gone beyond a “simple heartbreak.”

Social worker saw her shaking, distraught. Psychometrician found her restless, depressive, suicidal.

Very serious. But what exactly does that prove about him? Her? It proves she suffered. Absolutely. A lot. Does it prove he wanted to psychologically damage her? Different question.

Maybe the guy was manipulating her. Could be. Maybe he knew exactly what he was doing.

Or maybe he was just scared.

Pregnant girlfriend. Two families. Everybody headed toward marriage. You have people who mean well. God save us from people who mean well.

“Are you OK?” “What happened?” “Have you talked to him?” “Did he say anything?” “Maybe you should give him space.”

The man knows why he left. She gets to figure out what the hell happened while everybody watches her figure it out.

There were plans. The baby. The people who already knew. The people who didn’t know. The people who knew but were pretending not to know. The people who knew and were absolutely dying to know whether you knew that they knew.

That is a very bad place to be.

Some people are evil. Some people are just idiots. People forget this possibility.

Very important distinction. We’re talking about nine years.

Maybe he didn’t know what he wanted. A coward. Maybe that’s all this guy was. Very weak. Very annoying. Not exactly criminal. Possibly a terrible boyfriend. Possibly an even worse husband.

She would suffer exactly the same either way. If he’s malicious, she can’t sleep. If he’s a coward, she can’t sleep. If he’s manipulating her, she will stop eating. If he’s panicking, she will still stop eating.

Same depression, tears. Same woman shaking in front of the social worker.

One man wanted to hurt her. The other couldn’t find the guts to leave her.

Both can leave a woman crying. Only one should go to prison for it.