Leoncia Balogbog and Gaudioso Balogbog, petitioners, versus Honorable Court of Appeals, Ramonito Balogbog and Generoso Balogbog, respondents.
G.R. No. 83958 March 7, 1997
Facts:
Petitioners Leoncia and Gaudioso Balogbog are the children of Basilio Balogbog and Genoveva Arnibal who died inestate in 1951 and 1961, respectively. They had an older brother, Gavino, but he died predeceasing their parents. In 1968, private respondents brought an action for partition and accounting against petitioners, claiming that they were the legitimate children of Gavino by Catalina Ubas and that they were entitled to the one-third share of Gavino in the estate of their grandparents. In their answer, petitioners denied knowing private respondents. They alleged that their brother Gavino died single and without issue in their parents’ residence at Tag-amakan, Asturias, Cebu.
Respondents presented witnesses. One testified that he knew Gavino and Catalina to be husband and wife and Ramonito to be their first child because they performed at his campaign rallies. The witness also contended that he attended their wedding in which Rev. Father Emiliano Jomao-as officiated and Egmidio Manuel, then a councilor, acted as one of the witnesses. The second witness testified that private respondents are the children of Gavino and Catalina. He likewise attended the wedding and was in fact accompanied Catalina and carry her wedding dress. He also said that he was a carpenter and he was the one who had made the coffin of Gavino. He also made the coffin of the couple’s son, Petronilo, who died when he was six. Catalina Ubas likewise testified that after the wedding, she was handed a “receipt,” presumably a wedding certificate by Fr. Jomao-as and was burned during the war. She said that she and Gavino lived together in Obogon and begot three children. She stated that after the death of Gavino, she lived in common law relation with a man for a year and then they separated. Private respondents presented certificates from the Local Civil Registrar and by the Parish Priest of Asturias.
On the other hand, petitioner testified that Gavino died single. She denied that her brother had any legitimate children and stated that she did not know private respondents. The petitioner likewise presented a witness stating that Gavino died single and that Catalina lived with a certain Eleuterio Keriado after the war. He added that Catalina had children by a man she married before the war.
Issue:
Whether or not private respondents are legitimate children of the deceased Gavino Balogbog.
Held:
Under the Rules of Court, the presumption is that a man and a woman conducting themselves as husband and wife are legally married. This presumption may be rebutted only by cogent proof to the contrary. In this case, petitioners claim that the certification presented by private respondents was belied by the production of the Book of Marriages by the assistant municipal treasurer of Asturias. Petitioners argue that this book does not contain an entry pertaining to the alleged marriage of private respondents’ parents. This contention has no merit. Private respondents proved, through testimonial evidence. The law favors the validity of marriage, because the State is interested in the preservation of the family and the sanctity of the family s a matter of constitutional concern. What is in issue, however, is not the marriage of Gavino and Catalina but the filiations of private respondents as their children. Moreover, the evidence in the record shows that petitioner Gaudioso Balogbog admitted that Ramonito is his nephew. This admission of relationship is admissible against Gaudioso although made in another case. It is considered as a reliable declaration against interest.
