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VOL. 330, APRIL 6, 2000 201

Armas vs. Calisterio
*
G.R. No. 136467. April 6, 2000.

ANTONIA ARMAS Y CALISTERIO, petitioner, vs. MARIETTA

CALISTERIO, respondent.

Civil Law; Marriages; Judicial declaration of absence of the absentee

spouse is not necessary in the new Civil Code as long as the prescribed
period of absence is met.—A judicial declaration of absence of the absentee
spouse is not necessary as long as the prescribed period of absence is met. It
is equally noteworthy that the marriage in these exceptional cases are, by the
explicit mandate of Article 83, to be deemed valid “until declared null and
void by a competent court.” It follows that the burden of proof would be, in
these cases, on the party assailing the second marriage.
Same; Same; Conditions in order that a subsequent bigamous
marriage may exceptionally be considered valid.—Under the 1988 Family
Code, in order that a subsequent bigamous marriage may exceptionally be
considered valid, the following conditions must concur; viz.: (a) The prior
spouse of the contracting party must have been absent for four consecutive
years, or two years where there is danger of death under the circumstances
stated in Article 391 of the Civil Code at the time of disappearance; (b) the
spouse present has a well-founded belief that the absent spouse is already
dead; and (c) there is, unlike the old rule, a judicial declaration of
presumptive death of the absentee for which purpose the spouse present can
institute a summary proceeding in court to ask for that declaration.

PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of the Court of

Appeals.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.

Floresco P. Fronda for petitioner.
Lorna Salangsang Dee for respondent.

___________

* THIRD DIVISION.

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202 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Armas vs. Calisterio

VITUG, J.:

On 24 April 1992, Teodorico Calisterio died intestate, leaving

several parcels of land with an estimated value of P604,750.00.

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Teodorico was survived by his wife, herein respondent Marietta

Calisterio.
Teodorico was the second husband of Marietta who had
previously been married to James William Bounds on 13 January
1946 at Caloocan City. James Bounds disappeared without a trace on
11 February 1947. Teodorico and Marietta were married eleven
years later, or on 08 May 1958, without Marietta having priorly
secured a court declaration that James was presumptively dead.
On 09 October 1992, herein petitioner Antonia Armas y
Calisterio, a surviving sister of Teodorico, filed with the Regional
Trial Court (“RTC”) of Quezon City, Branch 104, a petition entitled,
“In the Matter of Intestate Estate of the Deceased Teodorico
Calisterio y Cacabelos, Antonia Armas, Petitioner,” claiming to be
inter alia, the sole surviving heir of Teodorico Calisterio, the
marriage between the latter and respondent Marietta Espinosa
Calisterio being allegedly bigamous and thereby null and void. She
prayed that her son Sinfroniano C. Armas, Jr., be appointed
administrator, without bond, of the estate of the deceased and that
the inheritance be adjudicated to her after all the obligations of the
estate would have been settled.
Respondent Marietta opposed the petition. Marietta stated that
her first marriage with James Bounds had been dissolved due to the
latter’s absence, his whereabouts being unknown, for more than
eleven years before she contracted her second marriage with
Teodorico. Contending to be the surviving spouse of Teodorico, she
sought priority in the administration of the estate of the decedent.
On 05 February 1993, the trial court issued an order appointing
jointly Sinfroniano C. Armas, Jr., and respondent Marietta
administrator and administratrix, respectively, of the intestate estate
of Teodorico.

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Armas vs. Calisterio

On 17 January 1996, the lower court handed down its decision in

favor of petitioner Antonia; it adjudged:

“WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered finding for the petitioner and

against the oppositor whereby herein petitioner, Antonia Armas y Calisterio,
is declared 1 as the sole heir of the estate of Teodorico Calisterio y
Cacabelos.”
Respondent Marietta appealed the decision of the trial court to the Court
of Appeals, formulating that—

“1. The trial court erred in applying the provisions of the Family Code
in the instant case despite the fact that the controversy arose when
the New Civil Code was the law in force.
“2. The trial court erred in holding that the marriage between
oppositor-appellant and the deceased Teodorico Calisterio is
bigamous for failure of the former to secure a decree of the
presumptive death of her first spouse.
“3. The trial court erred in not holding that the property situated at No.
32 Batangas Street, San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City, is the
conjugal property of the oppositor-appellant and the deceased
Teodorico Calisterio.
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“4. The trial court erred in holding that oppositor-appellant is not a

legal heir of deceased Teodorico Calisterio.
“5. The trial court erred in not holding that letters of administration
2
should be granted solely in favor of oppositor-appellant.”

On 31 August 1998, the appellate court, through Mr. Justice Conrado M.

Vasquez, Jr., promulgated its now assailed decision, thus:
“IN VIEW OF ALL THE FOREGOING, the Decision appealed from is
REVERSED AND SET ASIDE, and a new one entered declaring as
follows:

“(a) Marietta Calisterio’s marriage to Teodorico remains valid;

___________

1 Rollo, p. 45.
2 Rollo, pp. 29-30.

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204 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Armas vs. Calisterio

“(b) The house and lot situated at #32 Batangas Street, San Francisco
del Monte, Quezon City, belong to the conjugal partnership
property with the concomitant obligation of the partnership to pay
the value of the land to Teodorico’s estate as of the time of the
taking;
“(c) Marietta Calisterio, being Teodorico’s compulsory heir, is entitled
to one half of her husband’s estate, and Teodorico’s sister, herein
petitioner Antonia Armas and her children, to the other half;
“(d) The trial court is ordered to determine the competence of Marietta
E. Calisterio to act as administrator of Teodorico’s estate, and if so
found competent and willing, that she be appointed as such;
otherwise, to determine who among the deceased’s next of kin 3 is
competent and willing to become the administrator of the estate.”

On 23 November 1998, the Court of Appeals denied petitioner’s

motion for reconsideration, prompting her to interpose the present
appeal. Petitioner asseverates:

“It is respectfully submitted that the decision of the Court of Appeals

reversing and setting aside the decision of the trial court is not in accord
4
with the law or with the applicable decisions of this Honorable Court.”

It is evident that the basic issue focuses on the validity of the

marriage between the deceased Teodorico and respondent Marietta,
that, in turn, would be determinative of her right as a surviving
spouse.
The marriage between the deceased Teodorico and respondent
Marietta was solemnized on 08 May 1958. The law in force at that
time was the Civil Code, not the Family Code which5 took effect only
on 03 August 1988. Article 256 of the Family Code itself limited its
retroactive governance only to cases where it thereby would not
prejudice or impair vested or

__________________

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3 Rollo, pp. 35-36.
4 Rollo, p. 15.
5 Article 256. This Code shall have retroactive effect insofar as it does not
prejudice or impair vested or acquired rights in accordance with the Civil Code or
other laws.

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Armas vs. Calisterio

acquired rights in accordance with the Civil Code or other laws.

Verily, the applicable specific provision in the instant controversy
is Article 83 of the New Civil Code which provides:

“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:

“(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.”

Under the foregoing provisions, 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. Paragraph (2)
of the law gives exceptions from the above rule. For the subsequent
marriage referred to in the three exceptional cases therein provided,
to be held valid, the spouse present (not the absentee spouse) 6
so
contracting the later marriage must have done so in good faith. Bad
faith imports a dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and
conscious doing of wrong—it partakes of the nature of fraud, a7
breach of a known duty through some motive of interest or ill will.
The Court does not find these circumstances to be here extant.

______________

6 The good faith or bad faith of the other contracting party to the subsequent
marriage is not all that consequential (See Lapuz Sy vs. Eufemio, 43 SCRA 177).
7 Commissioner of Internal Revenue vs. Court of Appeals, 267 SCRA 557.

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206 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Armas vs. Calisterio

A judicial8 declaration of absence of the absentee spouse is not

necessary as long as the prescribed period of absence is met. It is
equally noteworthy that the marriage in these exceptional cases are,

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by the explicit mandate of Article 83, to be deemed valid “until

declared null and void by a competent court.” It follows that the
burden of proof would be, in these cases, on the party assailing the
second marriage.
In contrast, under the 1988 Family Code, in order that a
subsequent bigamous marriage may exceptionally be considered
valid, the following conditions must concur; viz.: (a) The prior
spouse of the contracting party must have been absent for four
consecutive years, or two years where there is danger of death under
the circumstances stated in Article 391 of the Civil Code at the time
of disappearance; (b) the spouse present has a well-founded belief
that the absent spouse is already dead; and (c) there is, unlike the old
rule, a judicial declaration of presumptive death of the absentee for
which purpose the spouse present can institute a summary
proceeding in court to ask for that declaration. The last condition is
consistent and in consonance with the requirement of judicial 9
intervention in subsequent
10
marriages as so provided in Article 41, in
relation to Article 40, of the Family Code.

_______________

8 Jones vs. Hortiguela, 64 Phil. 179.

9 Article 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. 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.
10 Article 40. The absolute nullity of a previous marriage may be invoked for
purposes of remarriage on the basis solely of a final judgment declaring such previous
marriage void.

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Armas vs. Calisterio

In the case at bar, it remained undisputed that respondent Marietta’s

first husband, James William Bounds, had been absent or had
disappeared for more than eleven years before she entered into a
second marriage in 1958 with the deceased Teodorico Calisterio.
This second marriage, having been contracted during the regime of
the Civil Code, should thus be deemed valid notwithstanding the
absence of a judicial declaration of presumptive death of James
Bounds.
The conjugal property of Teodorico and Marietta, no evidence
having been adduced to indicate another property regime between
the spouses, pertains to them in common. Upon its dissolution with
the death of Teodorico, the property should rightly be divided in two
equal portions—one portion going to the surviving spouse and the
other portion to the estate of the deceased spouse. The successional
11
right in intestacy of a surviving spouse over the net estate of the

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deceased, concurring with legitimate brothers and sisters or nephews

and nieces (the latter by right of representation), is one-half of the
inheritance, the brothers and sisters or nephews and nieces, being
entitled to the other half. Nephews and nieces, however, can only
succeed by right of representation in the presence of uncles and
aunts; alone, upon the other hand, nephews and nieces can succeed
in their own right which is to say that brothers or sisters exclude
nephews and nieces except only in representation by the latter of
their parents who predecease or are incapacitated to succeed. The
appellate court has thus erred in granting, in paragraph (c) of the
dispositive portion of its judgment, successional rights, to
petitioner’s children, along with their own mother Antonia who
herself is invoking successional rights over the estate of her
deceased brother.
WHEREFORE, the assailed judgment of the Court of Appeals in
CA G.R. CV No. 51574 is AFFIRMED except insofar only as it
decreed in paragraph (c) of the dispositive portion thereof that the
children of petitioner are likewise entitled,

______________

11 First deducting to her favor her one-half share of the conjugal property.

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208 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Lazaro vs. Court of Appeals

along with her, to the other half of the inheritance, in lieu of which,
it is hereby DECLARED that said one-half share of the decedent’s
estate pertains solely to petitioner to the exclusion of her own
children. No costs.
SO ORDERED.

Melo (Chairman), Panganiban, Purisima and Gonzaga-

Reyes, JJ., concur.

Judgment affirmed except that children of petitioner are excluded

from the inheritance.

Note.—A voidable marriage is considered valid and produces all

its civil effects. (Suntay vs. Cojuangco-Suntay, 300 SCRA 760
[1998])

——o0o——

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