Case Digest: TEVES V. PEOPLE

TEVES V. PEOPLE 

G.R. No. 188775,  [August 24, 2011]

DOCTRINE:

Where the absolute nullity of a previous marriage is sought to be invoked for purposes of contracting a second marriage, the sole basis acceptable in law for said projected marriage to be free from legal infirmity is a final judgment declaring the previous marriage void.

A judicial declaration of nullity is required before a valid subsequent marriage can be contracted; or else, what transpires is a bigamous marriage, reprehensible and immoral.

FACTS:

On 26 November 1992, a marriage was solemnized between Cenon Teves (Cenon) and Thelma Jaime-Teves (Thelma). After the marriage, Thelma left to work abroad and would only come home to the Philippines for vacations. In 2002, Thelma was informed that her husband had contracted marriage with a certain Edita Calderon. Thelma then went to the National Statistics Office and secured a copy of the Certificate of Marriage indicating that her husband (Cenon) and Edita contracted marriage on 10 December 2001 in Bulacan. In 2006, the uncle of Thelma, filed a complaint accusing petitioner Cenon of bigamy. Petitioner was charged with bigamy under Article 349 of the RPC on June 2006. However, during the pendency of the criminal case for bigamy, the RTC of Caloocan City, rendered a decision dated May 2006 (one month before the case for bigamy was decided) declaring the marriage of petitioner and Thelma null and void on the ground that Thelma is physically incapacitated to comply with her essential marital obligations pursuant to Article 36, Family Code. Said decision became final by a Certification of Finality issued on 27 June 2006. Petitioner Cenon appealed before the CA contending that the court a quo erred in not ruling that his criminal liability had already been extinguished. Petitioner claims that since his previous marriage was declared null and void, “there is in effect no marriage at all, and thus, there is no bigamy to speak of.”

Petitioner further contends that the ruling of the Court in Mercado v. Tan is inapplicable in his case because in the Mercado case the prosecution for bigamy was initiated before the declaration of nullity of marriage was filed. Petitioner says that in his case, the first marriage had already been legally dissolved at the time the bigamy case was filed in court.

ISSUE:

Whether petitioner may be held guilty for the crime of Bigamy (Article 346, RPC) despite the judicial declaration that his previous marriage with Thema is null and void.

HELD:

YES. The court held that it does not matter whether the case for declaration of nullity was filed before the case for bigamy was instituted, for as long as the offender contracted a subsequent marriage while his previous marriage is subsisting thereby not being able to secure a Declaration of Nullity of the First marriage AT THE TIME HE CONTRACTED THE SECOND MARRIAGE.

RATIO:

The instant case has all the elements of the crimeof bigamy under Art. 346 of the RPC. Thus, the CA was correct in affirming the conviction of petitioner. Petitioner was legally married to Thelma on 26 November 1992. He contracted a second or subsequent marriage with Edita on 10 December 2001. At the time of his second marriage with Edita, his marriage with Thelma was legally subsisting. It is noted that the finality of the decision declaring the nullity of his first marriage with Thelma was only on 27 June 2006 or about five (5) years after his second marriage to Edita. Finally, the second or subsequent marriage of petitioner with Edita has all the essential requisites for validity. Petitioner has in fact not disputed the validity of such subsequent marriage.

His contention that he cannot be charged with bigamy in view of the declaration of nullity of his first marriage is bereft of merit. A declaration of the absolute nullity of a marriage is now explicitly required either as a cause of action or a ground for defense. Where the absolute nullity of a previous marriage is sought to be invoked for purposes of contracting a second marriage, the sole basis acceptable in law for said projected marriage to be free from legal infirmity is a final judgment declaring the previous marriage void. Parties to a marriage should not be allowed to assume that their marriage is void even if such be the fact but must first secure a judicial declaration of the nullity of their marriage before they can be allowed to marry again. With the judicial declaration of the nullity of his or her marriage, the person who marries again cannot be charged with bigamy. A judicial declaration of nullity is required before a valid subsequent marriage can be contracted; or else, what transpires is a bigamous marriage, reprehensible and immoral.

If petitioner’s contention would be allowed, a person who commits bigamy can simply evade prosecution by immediately filing a petition for the declaration of nullity of his earlier marriage and hope that a favorable decision is rendered therein before anyone institutes a complaint against him. We note that in petitioner’s case the complaint was filed before the first marriage was declared a nullity. It was only the filing of the Information that was overtaken by the declaration of nullity of his first marriage. Following petitioner’s argument, even assuming that a complaint has been instituted, such as in this case, the offender can still escape liability provided that a decision nullifying his earlier marriage precedes the filing of the Information in court. Such cannot be allowed.