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Manuel Vs People

1) Eduardo P. Manuel was married to Rubylus Gaña in 1975 but claimed she was imprisoned for estafa and he never saw her again. In 1996, Manuel married Tina B. Gandalera without telling her about his first marriage. 2) Gandalera later learned about Manuel's first marriage and filed criminal charges for bigamy against him. Manuel claimed he believed in good faith his first marriage was invalid since his first wife disappeared. 3) The court ruled against Manuel, stating ignorance of the law is not an excuse. A spouse cannot legally be presumed dead without a judicial declaration, and one must obtain a nullification of the first marriage before entering a second marriage to avoid bigamy

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Carlota Nicolas Villaroman
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80 views

Manuel Vs People

1) Eduardo P. Manuel was married to Rubylus Gaña in 1975 but claimed she was imprisoned for estafa and he never saw her again. In 1996, Manuel married Tina B. Gandalera without telling her about his first marriage. 2) Gandalera later learned about Manuel's first marriage and filed criminal charges for bigamy against him. Manuel claimed he believed in good faith his first marriage was invalid since his first wife disappeared. 3) The court ruled against Manuel, stating ignorance of the law is not an excuse. A spouse cannot legally be presumed dead without a judicial declaration, and one must obtain a nullification of the first marriage before entering a second marriage to avoid bigamy

Uploaded by

Carlota Nicolas Villaroman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MANUEL VS PEOPLE

FACTS:
Eduardo P. Manuel, herein petitioner, was first married to Rubylus Gaa on July 18, 1975, who, according
to the former, was charged with estafa in 1975 and thereafter imprisoned and was never seen again by
him after his last visit. Manuel met Tina B. Gandalera in January 1996 when the latter was only 21 years
old. Three months after their meeting, the two got married through a civil wedding in Baguio City without
Gandaleras knowledge of Manuels first marriage. In the course of their marriage, things got rocky and
Gandalera learned that Eduardo was in fact already married when he married him. She then filed a
criminal case of bigamy against Eduardo Manuel. The latters defense being that his declaration of
single in his marriage contract with Gandalera was done because he believed in good faith that his first
marriage was invalid and that he did not know that he had to go to court to seek for the nullification of his
first marriage before marrying Tina. The Regional Trial Court ruled against him.
Eduardo appealed the decision to the CA where he alleged that he was not criminally liable for bigamy
because when he married the private complainant, he did so in good faith and without any malicious
intent. The CA ruled against the petitioner but with modification on the RTCs decision.
Hence, this petition.
ISSUE:
1. Whether or not the wife can be legally presumed dead under Article 390 of the Civil Code as there was
no judicial declaration of presumptive death as provided for under Article 41 of the Family Code.

HELD:
The petition is denied for lack of merit. The petitioner is presumed to have acted with malice or evil intent
when he married the private complainant. As a general rule, mistake of fact or good faith of the accused is
a valid defense in a prosecution for a felony by dolo; such defense negates malice or criminal intent.
However, ignorance of the law is not an excuse because everyone is presumed to know the
law. Ignorantia legis neminem excusat. Where a spouse is absent for the requisite period, the
present spouse may contract a subsequent marriage only after securing a judgment declaring the
presumptive death of the absent spouse to avoid being charged and convicted of bigamy; the
present spouse will have to adduce evidence that he had a well-founded belief that the absent spouse
was already dead. Such judgment is proof of the good faith of the present spouse who contracted a
subsequent marriage; thus, even if the present spouse is later charged with bigamy if the absentee
spouse reappears, he cannot be convicted of the crime.
The court ruled against the petitioner.

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