520 Phil. 249
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
WHEREFORE, there being no opposition filed against the petition notwithstanding the publication of the Notice of Hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the country, Alice Diaz is hereby declared to [sic] all legal intents and purposes, except for those of succession, presumptively dead.Close to 13 years after his wife Alice was declared presumptively dead or on August 8, 1983, Bailon contracted marriage with Teresita Jarque (respondent) in Casiguran, Sorsogon. [10]
SO ORDERED. [9] (Underscoring supplied)
1. Aliz [sic] Diaz never disappeared. The court must have been misled by misrepresentation in declaring the first wife, Aliz [sic] Diaz, as presumptively dead.In the meantime, the SSS Sorsogon Branch, by letter of August 16, 2000,[22] advised respondent that as Cecilia and Norma were the ones who defrayed Bailon's funeral expenses, she should return the P12,000 paid to her.
x x x x
x x x the Order of the court in the "Petition to Declare Alice Diaz Presumptively Dead," did not become final. The presence of Aliz [sic] Diaz, is contrary proof that rendered it invalid.
x x x x
3. It was the deceased member who abandoned his wife, Aliz [sic] Diaz. He, being in bad faith, and is the deserting spouse, his remarriage is void, being bigamous.
x x x x
In this case, it is the deceased member who was the deserting spouse and who remarried, thus his marriage to Teresita Jarque, for the second time was void as it was bigamous. To require affidavit of reappearance to terminate the second marriage is not necessary as there is no disappearance of Aliz [sic] Diaz, the first wife, and a voidable marriage [sic], to speak of. [21] (Underscoring supplied)
WHEREFORE, this Commission finds, and so holds, that petitioner Teresita Jarque-Bailon is not the legitimate spouse and primary beneficiary of SSS member Clemente Bailon.In so ruling against respondent, the SSC ratiocinated.
Accordingly, the petitioner is hereby ordered to refund to the SSS the amount of P24,000.00 representing the death benefit she received therefrom for the period February 1998 until May 1999 as well as P12,000.00 representing the funeral benefit.
The SSS is hereby ordered to pay Alice (a.k.a. Aliz) Diaz-Bailon the appropriate death benefit arising from the demise of SSS member Clemente Bailon in accordance with Section 8(e) and (k) as well as Section 13 of the SS Law, as amended, and its prevailing rules and regulations and to inform this Commission of its compliance herewith.
SO ORDERED. [31] (Underscoring supplied)
After a thorough examination of the evidence at hand, this Commission comes to the inevitable conclusion that the petitioner is not the legitimate wife of the deceased member.Respondent's Motion for Reconsideration [34] having been denied by Order of June 4, 2003, she filed a petition for review [35] before the Court of Appeals (CA).
x x x x
There is x x x ample evidence pointing to the fact that, contrary to the declaration of the then CFI of Sorsogon (10th Judicial District), the first wife never disappeared as the deceased member represented in bad faith. This Commission accords credence to the findings of the SSS contained in its Memorandum dated August 9, 1999, [32] revealing that Alice (a.k.a. Aliz) Diaz never left Barcelona, Sorsogon, after her separation from Clemente Bailon x x x.
As the declaration of presumptive death was extracted by the deceased member using artifice and by exerting fraud upon the unsuspecting court of law, x x x it never had the effect of giving the deceased member the right to marry anew. x x x [I]t is clear that the marriage to the petitioner is void, considering that the first marriage on April 25, 1955 to Alice Diaz was not previously annulled, invalidated or otherwise dissolved during the lifetime of the parties thereto. x x x as determined through the investigation conducted by the SSS, Clemente Bailon was the abandoning spouse, not Alice Diaz Bailon.
x x x x
It having been established, by substantial evidence, that the petitioner was just a common-law wife of the deceased member, it necessarily follows that she is not entitled as a primary beneficiary, to the latter's death benefit. x x x
x x x x
It having been determined that Teresita Jarque was not the legitimate surviving spouse and primary beneficiary of Clemente Bailon, it behooves her to refund the total amount of death benefit she received from the SSS for the period from February 1998 until May 1999 pursuant to the principle of solutio indebiti x x x
Likewise, it appearing that she was not the one who actually defrayed the cost of the wake and burial of Clemente Bailon, she must return the amount of P12,000.00 which was earlier given to her by the SSS as funeral benefit. [33] (Underscoring supplied)
x x x [T]he paramount concern in this case transcends the issue of whether or not the decision of the then CFI, now RTC, declaring Alice Diaz presumptively dead has attained finality but, more importantly, whether or not the respondents SSS and Commission can validly re-evaluate the findings of the RTC, and on its own, declare the latter's decision to be bereft of any basis. On similar import, can respondents SSS and Commission validly declare the first marriage subsisting and the second marriage null and void?The SSC and the SSS separately filed their Motions for Reconsideration [37] which were both denied for lack of merit.
x x x x
x x x while it is true that a judgment declaring a person presumptively dead never attains finality as the finding that "the person is unheard of in seven years is merely a presumption juris tantum," the second marriage contracted by a person with an absent spouse endures until annulled. It is only the competent court that can nullify the second marriage pursuant to Article 87 of the Civil Code and upon the reappearance of the missing spouse, which action for annulment may be filed. Nowhere does the law contemplates [sic] the possibility that respondent SSS may validly declare the second marriage null and void on the basis alone of its own investigation and declare that the decision of the RTC declaring one to be presumptively dead is without basis.
Respondent SSS cannot arrogate upon itself the authority to review the decision of the regular courts under the pretext of determining the actual and lawful beneficiaries of its members. Notwithstanding its opinion as to the soundness of the findings of the RTC, it should extend due credence to the decision of the RTC absent of [sic] any judicial pronouncement to the contrary. x x x
x x x [A]ssuming arguendo that respondent SSS actually possesses the authority to declare the decision of the RTC to be without basis, the procedure it followed was offensive to the principle of fair play and thus its findings are of doubtful quality considering that petitioner Teresita was not given ample opportunity to present evidence for and her behalf.
x x x x
Respondent SSS is correct in stating that the filing of an Affidavit of Reappearance with the Civil Registry is no longer practical under the premises. Indeed, there is no more first marriage to restore as the marital bond between Alice Diaz and Clemente Bailon was already terminated upon the latter's death. Neither is there a second marriage to terminate because the second marriage was likewise dissolved by the death of Clemente Bailon.
However, it is not correct to conclude that simply because the filing of the Affidavit of Reappearance with the Civil Registry where parties to the subsequent marriage reside is already inutile, the respondent SSS has now the authority to review the decision of the RTC and consequently declare the second marriage null and void. [36] (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
The SSS faults the CA for failing to give due consideration to the findings of facts of the SSC on the prior and subsisting marriage between Bailon and Alice; in disregarding the authority of the SSC to determine to whom, between Alice and respondent, the death benefits should be awarded pursuant to Section 5 [40] of the Social Security Law; and in declaring that the SSS did not give respondent due process or ample opportunity to present evidence in her behalf.I
THE DECISION OF THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS IS CONTRARY TO LAW.II
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO LACK OF JURISDICTION.[39]
Art. 83. Any marriage subsequently contracted by any person during the lifetime of the first spouse of such person with any person other than such first spouse shall be illegal and void from its performance, unless:Under the foregoing provision of the Civil Code, a subsequent marriage contracted during the lifetime of the first spouse is illegal and void ab initio unless the prior marriage is first annulled or dissolved or contracted under any of the three exceptional circumstances. It bears noting that the marriage under any of these exceptional cases is deemed valid "until declared null and void by a competent court." It follows that the onus probandi in these cases rests on the party assailing the second marriage. [44]
(1) The first marriage was annulled or dissolved; or
(2) The first spouse had been absent for seven consecutive years at the time of the second marriage without the spouse present having news of the absentee being alive, or if the absentee, though he has been absent for less than seven years, is generally considered as dead and believed to be so by the spouse present at the time of contracting such subsequent marriage, or if the absentee is presumed dead according to Articles 390 and 391. The marriage so contracted shall be valid in any of the three cases until declared null and void by a competent court. (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
Where a person has entered into two successive marriages, a presumption arises in favor of the validity of the second marriage, and the burden is on the party attacking the validity of the second marriage to prove that the first marriage had not been dissolved; it is not enough to prove the first marriage, for it must also be shown that it had not ended when the second marriage was contracted. The presumption in favor of the innocence of the defendant from crime or wrong and of the legality of his second marriage, will prevail over the presumption of the continuance of life of the first spouse or of the continuance of the marital relation with such first spouse. [47] (Underscoring supplied)Under the Civil Code, a subsequent marriage being voidable, [48] it is terminated by final judgment of annulment in a case instituted by the absent spouse who reappears or by either of the spouses in the subsequent marriage.
Art. 42. The subsequent marriage referred to in the preceding Article shall be automatically terminated by the recording of the affidavit of reappearance of the absent spouse, unless there is a judgment annulling the previous marriage or declaring it void ab initio.The termination of the subsequent marriage by affidavit provided by the above-quoted provision of the Family Code does not preclude the filing of an action in court to prove the reappearance of the absentee and obtain a declaration of dissolution or termination of the subsequent marriage. [49]
A sworn statement of the fact and circumstances of reappearance shall be recorded in the civil registry of the residence of the parties to the subsequent marriage at the instance of any interested person, with due notice to the spouses of the subsequent marriage and without prejudice to the fact of reappearance being judicially determined in case such fact is disputed. (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
x x x [G]enerally if a subsequent marriage is dissolved by the death of either spouse, the effects of dissolution of valid marriages shall arise. The good or bad faith of either spouse can no longer be raised, because, as in annullable or voidable marriages, the marriage cannot be questioned except in a direct action for annulment. [52] (Underscoring supplied)Similarly, Lapuz v. Eufemio [53] instructs:
In fact, even if the bigamous marriage had not been void ab initio but only voidable under Article 83, paragraph 2, of the Civil Code, because the second marriage had been contracted with the first wife having been an absentee for seven consecutive years, or when she had been generally believed dead, still the action for annulment became extinguished as soon as one of the three persons involved had died, as provided in Article 87, paragraph 2, of the Code, requiring that the action for annulment should be brought during the lifetime of any one of the parties involved. And furthermore, the liquidation of any conjugal partnership that might have resulted from such voidable marriage must be carried out "in the testate or intestate proceedings of the deceased spouse," as expressly provided in Section 2 of the Revised Rule 73, and not in the annulment proceeding. [54] (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)It bears reiterating that a voidable marriage cannot be assailed collaterally except in a direct proceeding. Consequently, such marriages can be assailed only during the lifetime of the parties and not after the death of either, in which case the parties and their offspring will be left as if the marriage had been perfectly valid. [55] Upon the death of either, the marriage cannot be impeached, and is made good ab initio.[56]
[33] Rollo, pp. 53-56.x x x x
- Based on the interview conducted by our Account Officer, Mr. Rolando G. Gomez to [sic] the relatives of Alice (not Aliz) Diaz namely: Rogelio Del Prado and Emelita Diaz at Poblacion Sur, Barcelona, Sorsogon they alleged that subject deceased member and Alice live [sic] as husband and wife for only a year. Alice never left Barcelona, Sorsogon since their separation and is not dependent for support nor received support from the deceased member. x x x
Art. 41. A marriage contracted by any person during the subsistence of a previous marriage shall be null and void, unless before the celebration of the subsequent marriage, the prior spouse had been absent for four consecutive years and the spouse present had a well-founded belief that the absent spouse was already dead. In case of disappearance where there is danger of death under the circumstances set forth in the provisions of Article 391 of the Civil Code, an absence of only two years shall be sufficient.[44] Armas v. Calisterio, 386 Phil. 402, 409 (2000).
For the purpose of contracting the subsequent marriage under the preceding paragraph, the spouse present must institute a summary proceeding as provided in this Code for the declaration of presumptive death of the absentee, without prejudice to the effect of reappearance of the absent spouse.
[49] Supra note 47, at 284.x x x x
(2) In a subsequent marriage under Article 83, Number 2, that the former husband or wife believed to be dead was in fact living and the marriage with such former husband or wife was then in force;
x x x x (Underscoring supplied)
Art. 87. The action for annulment of marriage must be commenced by the parties and within the periods as follows:
x x x x
(2) For causes mentioned in number 2 of Article 85, by the spouse who has been absent, during his or her lifetime; or by either spouse of the subsequent marriage during the lifetime of the other;
x x x x