272 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

*
G.R. No. 150758. February 18, 2004.

VERONICO TENEBRO, petitioner, vs. THE HONORABLE

COURT OF APPEALS, respondent.

Civil Law; Family Code; Marriages; Evidence; The certified

copy of the marriage contract, issued by a public officer in custody
thereof, is admissible as the best evidence of its contents.–This being
the case, the certified copy of the marriage contract, issued by a
public officer in custody thereof, was admissible as the best
evidence of its contents. The marriage contract plainly indicates
that a marriage was celebrated between petitioner and Villareyes
on November 10, 1986, and it should be accorded the full faith and
credence given to public documents.
Same; Same; Same; Same; There is absolutely no requirement
in the law that a marriage contract needs to be submitted to the civil
registrar as a condition precedent for the validity of a marriage; The
mere fact that no record of a marriage exists does not invalidate the
marriage, provided all the requisites for its validity are present.–The
marriage contract presented by the prosecution serves as positive
evidence as to the existence of the marriage between Tenebro and
Villareyes, which should be given greater credence than documents
testifying merely as to absence of any record of the marriage,
especially considering that there is absolutely no requirement in the
law that a marriage contract needs to be submitted to the civil
registrar as a condition precedent for the validity of a marriage. The
mere fact that no record of a marriage exists does not invalidate the
marriage, provided all requisites for its validity are present. There
is no evidence presented by the defense that would indicate that the
marriage between Tenebro and Villareyes lacked any requisite for
validity, apart from the self-serving testimony of the accused
himself.
Same; Same; Same; Same; A declaration of the nullity of the
second marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity is of
absolutely no moment insofar as the StateÊs penal laws are
concerned.–Petitioner makes much of the judicial declaration of the
nullity of the second marriage on the ground of psychological
incapacity, invoking Article 36 of the Family Code. What petitioner
fails to realize is that a declaration of the nullity of the second
marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity is of absolutely
no moment insofar as the StateÊs penal laws are concerned.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Bigamy; A marriage contracted
during the subsistence of a valid marriage is automatically void, the
nullity of this second marriage is not per se an argument for the
avoidance of criminal

_______________

* EN BANC.

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VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 273

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

liability for bigamy; Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code penalizes
the mere act of contracting a second or a subsequent marriage
during the subsistence of a valid marriage.–As a second or
subsequent marriage contracted during the subsistence of
petitionerÊs valid marriage to Villareyes, petitionerÊs marriage to
Ancajas would be null and void ab initio completely regardless of
petitionerÊs psychological capacity or incapacity. Since a marriage
contracted during the subsistence of a valid marriage is
automatically void, the nullity of this second marriage is not per se
an argument for the avoidance of criminal liability for bigamy.
Pertinently, Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code criminalizes „any
person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before
the former marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent
spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a
judgment rendered in the proper proceedings.‰ A plain reading of
the law, therefore, would indicate that the provision penalizes the
mere act of contracting a second or a subsequent marriage during
the subsistence of a valid marriage.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; The requisites for the validity
of a marriage are classified by the Family Code into essential (legal
capacity of the contracting parties and their consent freely given in
the presence of the solemnizing officer) and formal (authority of the
solemnizing officer, marriage license, and marriage ceremony
wherein the parties personally declare their agreement to marry
before the solemnizing officer in the presence of at least two
witnesses).–Moreover, the declaration of the nullity of the second
marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity is not an
indicator that petitionerÊs marriage to Ancajas lacks the essential
requisites for validity. The requisites for the validity of a marriage
are classified by the Family Code into essential (legal capacity of
the contracting parties and their consent freely given in the
presence of the solemnizing officer) and formal (authority of the
solemnizing officer, marriage license, and marriage ceremony
wherein the parties personally declare their agreement to marry
before the solemnizing officer in the presence of at least two
witnesses). Under Article 5 of the Family Code, any male or female
of the age of eighteen years or upwards not under any of the
impediments mentioned in Articles 37 and 38 may contract
marriage.

VITUG, J., Separate Opinion:

Civil Law; Family Code; Marriages: Evidence; Bigamy; The

Revised Penal Code itself does not, unlike the rule then prevailing in
Spain, require the judicial declaration of nullity of a prior void
marriage before it can be raised by way of a defense in a criminal
case for bigamy; The complete nullity however of a previously
contracted marriage, being void ab initio and legally inexistent, can
outrightly be a defense in an indictment for bigamy.–Void marriages
are inexistent from the very beginning, and no judicial decree is
required to establish their nullity. As early as the case of

274

274 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

People vs. Aragon, this Court has underscored the fact that the
Revised Penal Code itself does not, unlike the rule then prevailing in
Spain, require the judicial declaration of nullity of a prior void
marriage before it can be raised by way of a defense in a criminal
case for bigamy. Had the law contemplated otherwise, said the
Court, „an express provision to that effect would or should have
been inserted in the law, (but that in) its absence, (the courts) are
bound by (the) rule of strict interpretation‰ of penal statutes. In
contrast to a voidable marriage which legally exists until judicially
annulled (and, therefore, not a defense in a bigamy charge if the
second marriage were contracted prior to the decree of annulment),
the complete nullity, however, of a previously contracted marriage,
being void ab initio and legally inexistent, can outrightly be a
defense in an indictment for bigamy.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; A civil case questioning the
validity of the first marriage would not be a prejudicial issue much
in the same way that a civil case assailing a prior „voidable‰
marriage (being valid until annulled) would not be a prejudicial
question to the prosecution of a criminal offense for bigamy.–
Considerations, both logical and practical, would point to the fact
that a „void‰ marriage due to psychological incapacity remains, for
all intents and purposes, to be binding and efficacious until
judicially declared otherwise. Without such marriage having first
been declared a nullity (or otherwise dissolved), a subsequent
marriage could constitute bigamy. Thus, a civil case questioning the
validity of the first marriage would not be a prejudicial issue much
in the same way that a civil case assailing a prior „voidable‰
marriage (being valid until annulled) would not be a prejudicial
question to the prosecution of a criminal offense for bigamy.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; For a person to be held guilty
of bigamy, it must, even as it needs only, be shown that the
subsequent marriage has all the essential elements of a valid
marriage were it not for the subsisting first union.–In cases where
the second marriage is void on grounds other than the existence of
the first marriage, this Court has declared in a line of cases that no
crime of bigamy is committed. The Court has explained that for a
person to be held guilty of bigamy, it must, even as it needs only, be
shown that the subsequent marriage has all the essential elements of
a valid marriage, were it not for the subsisting first union. Hence,
where it is established that the second marriage has been
contracted without the necessary license and thus void, or that the
accused is merely forced to enter into the second (voidable)
marriage, no criminal liability for the crime of bigamy can attach.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; The judicial declaration of
nullity of a bigamous marriage on the ground of psychological
incapacity merely nullifies the effects of the marriage but it does not
negate the fact of perfec-

275
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Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

tion of the bigamous marriage.–Since psychological incapacity, upon

the other hand, does not relate to an infirmity in the elements, either
essential or formal, in contracting a valid marriage, the declaration
of nullity subsequent to the bigamous marriage due to that ground,
without more, would be inconsequential in a criminal charge for
bigamy. The judicial declaration of nullity of a bigamous marriage
on the ground of psychological incapacity merely nullifies the effects
of the marriage but it does not negate the fact of perfection of the
bigamous marriage. Its subsequent declaration of nullity dissolves
the relationship of the spouses but, being alien to the requisite
conditions for the perfection of the marriage, the judgment of the
court is no defense on the part of the offender who has entered into
it.

CARPIO, J., Dissenting Opinion:

Civil Law; Family Code; Marriages; Evidence; Bigamy; Court

has consistently ruled that if the second marriage is void on grounds
other than the existence of the first marriage, there is no crime of
bigamy.–For more than 75 years now, this Court has consistently
ruled that if the second marriage is void on grounds other than the
existence of the first marriage, there is no crime of bigamy.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; Decisions of the Court
declaring there is no crime of bigamy if the second marriage is void
on grounds other than the existence of the first marriage merely
apply the clear language and intent of Article 349 of the Revised
Penal Code.–These decisions of the Court declaring there is no
crime of bigamy if the second marriage is void on grounds other
than the existence of the first marriage merely apply the clear
language and intent of Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code.
Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; A marriage contracted by one
psychologically incapacitated at the time of the marriage is legally
inexistent and void from the beginning; Such void marriage cannot
constitute a second marriage to sustain a conviction for bigamy
under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code.–If the second marriage
is void ab initio on grounds other than the existence of the first
marriage, then legally there exists no second marriage. Article 35 of
the Family Code enumerates the marriages that are „void from the
beginning.‰ The succeeding article, Article 36, declares that a
marriage contracted by one psychologically incapacitated „shall
likewise be void.‰ Article 1409 of the Civil Code declares „inexistent
and void from the beginning‰ contracts „expressly x x x declared
void by law.‰ Thus, a marriage contracted by one psychologically
incapacitated at the time of the marriage is legally inexistent and
void from the beginning. Such void marriage cannot constitute a
second marriage to sustain a conviction for bigamy under Article
349 of the Revised Penal Code.

276

276 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

Same; Same; Same; Same; Same; Article 349 speaks of a

„second or subsequent marriage‰ which, as commonly understood
and applied consistently by the Court, means a valid second
marriage were it not for the existence of the first marriage.–Article
349 of the Revised Penal Code does not state that it is immaterial
whether the second marriage is valid or void ab initio. This Article
does not also state that the mere act of celebration of the second
marriage, while the first marriage subsists, constitutes the crime of
bigamy. Article 349 speaks of a „second or subsequent marriage‰
which, as commonly understood and applied consistently by the
Court, means a valid second marriage were it not for the existence
of the first marriage.

CALLEJO, SR., J., Separate Dissenting Opinion:

Civil Law; Family Code; Marriages; Evidence; Bigamy; Since

the second marriage is null and void ab initio, such marriage in
contemplation of criminal law never existed and for that reason, one
of the essential elements of bigamy has disappeared.–The
prosecution was burdened to prove beyond reasonable doubt the
corpus delicti, namely, all the elements of the crime. In this case,
the prosecution adduced evidence that the petitioner contracted
marriage with Hilda and during the subsistence of said marriage,
he contracted a second marriage with the private respondent.
However, the petitioner adduced in evidence the decision of the
Regional Trial Court in Civil Case No. AU-885 before the court a
quo rendered judgment convicting the petitioner of bigamy
declaring null and void ab initio the petitionerÊs marriage with the
private respondent on the ground of the latterÊs psychological
incapacity. Since the second marriage is null and void ab initio,
such marriage in contemplation of criminal law never existed and
for that reason, one of the essential elements of bigamy has
disappeared.

PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of the

Court of Appeals.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.

Urbano, Palamos & Fabros for petitioner.
The Solicitor General for respondent.

YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:

We are called on to decide the novel issue concerning the

effect of the judicial declaration of the nullity of a second or
subsequent marriage, on the ground of psychological
incapacity, on an individualÊs criminal liability for bigamy.
We hold that the subsequent

277

VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 277

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

judicial declaration of nullity of marriage on the ground of

psychological incapacity does not retroact to the date of the
celebration of the marriage insofar as the PhilippinesÊ
penal laws are concerned. As such, an individual who
contracts a second or subsequent marriage during the
subsistence of a valid marriage is criminally liable for
bigamy, notwithstanding the subsequent declaration that
the second marriage is void ab initio on the ground of
psychological incapacity.
Petitioner in this case, Veronico Tenebro, contracted
marriage with private complainant Leticia Ancajas on
April 10, 1990. The two were wed by Judge Alfredo B.
Perez, Jr. of the City Trial Court of Lapu-lapu City. Tenebro
and Ancajas lived together continuously and without
interruption until the latter part of 1991, when Tenebro
informed Ancajas that he had been previously married to a
certain Hilda Villareyes on November 10, 1986. Tenebro
showed Ancajas a photocopy of a marriage contract
between him and Villareyes. Invoking this previous
marriage, petitioner thereafter left the conjugal dwelling
which he shared with Ancajas,
1
stating that he was going to
cohabit with Villareyes.
 On January 25, 1993, petitioner contracted yet another
marriage, this one with a certain Nilda Villegas, before
Judge German Lee, 2
Jr. of the Regional Trial Court of Cebu
City, Branch 15. When Ancajas learned of this third
marriage, she verified from Villareyes whether the latter3
was indeed married to petitioner. In a handwritten letter,
Villareyes confirmed that petitioner, Veronico Tenebro, was
indeed her husband.
Ancajas4 thereafter filed a complaint
5
for bigamy against
petitioner. The Information, which was docketed as
Criminal Case No. 013095-L, reads:

„That on the 10th day of April 1990, in the City of Lapu-lapu,

Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the
aforenamed accused, having been previously united in lawful
marriage with Hilda Villareyes, and without the said marriage
having been legally dissolved, did then and there willfully,
unlawfully and feloniously contract a second

_______________

1 TSN, 24 July 1995, pp. 4-11.

2 Record, p. 78.
3 Record, p. 84.
4 TSN, 24 July 1995, pp. 11-12; TSN, 13 September 1995, pp. 6-9.
5 Record, pp. 1-2.

278

278 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

marriage with LETICIA ANCAJAS, which second or subsequent

marriage of the accused has all the essential requisites for validity
were it not for the subsisting first marriage.
„CONTRARY TO LAW.‰
6
When arraigned, petitioner entered a plea of „not guilty.‰
During the trial, petitioner admitted having cohabited with
Villareyes from 1984-1988, with whom he sired two
children. However, he denied that he and Villareyes were
validly married to each other, claiming that no7
marriage
ceremony took place to solemnize their union. He alleged
that he signed a marriage contract merely to enable her to
get the allotment 8from his office in connection with his
work as a seaman. He further testified that he requested
his brother to verify from the Civil Register in Manila
whether there was any marriage at all between him 9
and
Villareyes, but there was no record of said marriage.
On November 10, 1997, the Regional Trial Court of
Lapu-lapu City, Branch 54, rendered a decision finding the
accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of
bigamy under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code, and
sentencing him to four (4) years and two (2) months of
prision correccional, as minimum, to eight 10
(8) years and
one (1) day of prision mayor, as maximum. On appeal, the
Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court.
PetitionerÊs motion for reconsideration was denied for lack
of merit.
Hence, the instant petition for review on the following
assignment of errors:

I. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS

GRAVELY ERRED AND THIS ERROR IS
CORRECTIBLE IN THIS APPEAL–WHEN IT
AFFIRMED THE DECISION OF THE
HONORABLE COURT A QUO CONVICTING THE
ACCUSED FOR (sic) THE CRIME OF BIGAMY,
DESPITE THE NON-EXISTENCE OF THE FIRST
MARRIAGE AND INSUFFICIENCY OF
EVIDENCE.
II. THE COURT ERRED IN CONVICTING THE
ACCUSED FOR (sic) THE CRIME OF BIGAMY
DESPITE CLEAR PROOF THAT THE

_______________

6 Id., p. 66.
7 TSN, 11 December 1996, p. 6.
8 Id., pp. 6-7.
9 Id., pp. 7-8.
10 Penned by Judge Rumoldo F. Fernandez, Rollo, pp. 156-162.

279

VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 279

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

MARRIAGE BETWEEN THE ACCUSED AND

PRIVATE COMPLAINANT HAD BEEN
DECLARED NULL AND VOID AB INITIO AND
 11
WITHOUT LEGAL FORCE AND EFFECT.

After a careful review of the evidence on record, we find no

cogent reason to disturb the assailed judgment.
Under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code, the
elements of the crime of Bigamy are:

(1) that the offender has been legally married;

(2) that the first marriage has not been legally dissolved or, in
case his or her spouse is absent, the absent spouse could not
yet be presumed dead according to the Civil Code;
(3) that he contracts a second or subsequent marriage; and
(4) that the second or subsequent marriage has all the essential
12
requisites for validity.

PetitionerÊs assignment of errors presents a two-tiered

defense, in which he (1) denies the existence of his first
marriage to Villareyes, and (2) argues that the declaration
of the nullity of the second marriage on the ground of
psychological incapacity, which is an alleged indicator that
his marriage to Ancajas lacks the essential requisites for
validity, retroacts
13
to the date on which the second marriage
was celebrated. Hence, petitioner argues that all four of
the elements of the14
crime of bigamy are absent, and prays
for his acquittal.
PetitionerÊs defense must fail on both counts.
First, the prosecution presented sufficient evidence, both
documentary and oral, to prove the existence of the first
marriage between petitioner and Villareyes. Documentary
evidence presented was in the form of: (1) a copy of a
marriage contract between Tenebro and Villareyes, dated
November 10, 1986, which, as seen on the document, was
solemnized at the Manila City Hall before Rev. Julieto
Torres, a Minister of the Gospel, and certified 15
to by the
Office of the Civil Registrar of Manila; and (2) a
handwritten

_______________

11 Rollo, p. 7.
12 Reyes, L.B., THE REVISED PENAL CODE, Book Two, 14th ed.,
1998, p. 907.
13 Rollo, pp. 7-16.
14 Id., pp. 16-18.
15 Record, p. 85.
 280

280 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

letter from Villareyes to Ancajas dated July 12, 1994,

informing 16
Ancajas that Villareyes and Tenebro were legally
married.
To assail the veracity of the marriage contract,
petitioner presented (1) a certification issued 17
by the
National Statistics Office dated October 7, 1995; and (2) a
certification issued by the
18
City Civil Registry of Manila,
dated February 3, 1997. Both these documents attest that
the respective issuing offices have no record of a marriage
celebrated between Veronica B. Tenebro and Hilda
Villareyes on November 10, 1986.
To our mind, the documents presented by the defense
cannot adequately assail the marriage contract, which in
itself would already have been sufficient to establish the
existence of a marriage between Tenebro and Villareyes.
All three of these documents fall in the category of
public documents, and the Rules of Court provisions
relevant to public documents are applicable to all.
Pertinent to the marriage contract, Section 7 of Rule 130 of
the Rules of Court reads as follows:

Sec. 7. Evidence admissible when original document is a public

record.–When the original of a document is in the custody of a
public officer or is recorded in a public office, its contents may be
proved by a certified copy issued by the public officer in custody
thereof. (Emphasis ours)

This being the case, the certified copy of the marriage

contract, issued by a public officer in custody thereof, was
admissible as the best evidence of its contents. The
marriage contract plainly indicates that a marriage was
celebrated between petitioner and Villareyes on November
10, 1986, and it should be accorded the full faith and
credence given to public documents.
Moreover, an examination of the wordings of the
certification issued by the National Statistics Office on
October 7, 1995 and that issued by the City Civil Registry
of Manila on February 3, 1997 would plainly show that
neither document attests as a positive fact that there was no
marriage celebrated between Veronico B. Tenebro and
Hilda B. Villareyes on November 10, 1986. Rather, the
documents merely attest that the respective issuing offices
have no record of such a marriage. Documentary evidence
as to the absence

_______________

16 Record, p. 84.
17 Record, p. 148.
18 Record, p. 149.

281

VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 281

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

of a record is quite different from documentary evidence as

to the absence of a marriage ceremony, or documentary
evidence as to the invalidity of the marriage between
Tenebro and Villareyes.
The marriage contract presented by the prosecution
serves as positive evidence as to the existence of the
marriage between Tenebro and Villareyes, which should be
given greater credence than documents testifying merely as
to absence of any record of the marriage, especially
considering that there is absolutely no requirement in the
law that a marriage contract needs to be submitted to the
civil registrar as a condition precedent for the validity of a
marriage. The mere fact that no record of a marriage exists
does not invalidate the marriage,
19
provided all requisites for
its validity are present. There is no evidence presented by
the defense that would indicate that the marriage between
Tenebro and Villareyes lacked any requisite for validity,
apart from the self-serving testimony of the accused
himself. Balanced against this testimony are VillareyesÊ
letter, AncajasÊ testimony that petitioner informed her of
the existence of the valid first marriage, and petitionerÊs
own conduct, which would all tend to indicate that the first
marriage had all the requisites for validity.
Finally, although the accused claims that he took steps
to verify the non-existence of the first marriage to
Villareyes by requesting his brother to validate such
purported non-existence, it is significant to note that the
certifications issued by the National Statistics Office and
the City Civil Registry of Manila are dated October 7, 1995
and February 3, 1997, respectively. Both documents,
therefore, are dated after the accusedÊs marriage to his
second wife, private respondent in this case.
As such, this Court rules that there was sufficient
evidence presented by the prosecution to prove the first and
second requisites for the crime of bigamy.
The second tier of petitionerÊs defense 20hinges on the
effects of the subsequent judicial declaration of the nullity
of the second marriage on the ground of psychological
incapacity.

_______________

19 Mariategui v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 57062, 24 January 1992,

205 SCRA 337, 343, citing People v. Borromeo, 218 Phil. 122, 126; 133
SCRA 106 [1984]).
20 Decision dated November 20, 1995, penned by Judge Epifanio C.
Llano of the Regional Trial Court of Argao, Cebu, Branch 26, in Civil
Case No. AV-885 (Annex „C,‰ Rollo, p. 43).

282

282 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

Petitioner argues that this subsequent judicial declaration

retroacts to the date of the celebration of the marriage to
Ancajas. As such, he argues that, since his marriage to
Ancajas was subsequently declared
21
void ab initio, the crime
of bigamy was not committed.
This argument is not impressed with merit.
Petitioner makes much of the judicial declaration of the
nullity of the second marriage on the ground of
psychological incapacity, invoking Article 36 of the Family
Code. What petitioner fails to realize is that a declaration
of the nullity of the second marriage on the ground of
psychological incapacity is of absolutely no moment insofar
as the StateÊs penal laws are concerned.
As a second or subsequent marriage contracted during
the subsistence of petitionerÊs valid marriage to Villareyes,
petitionerÊs marriage to Ancajas would be null and void ab
initio completely regardless
22
of petitionerÊs psychological
capacity or incapacity. Since a marriage contracted during
the subsistence of a valid marriage is automatically void,
the nullity of this second marriage is not per se an
argument for the avoidance of criminal liability for bigamy.
Pertinently, Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code
criminalizes „any person who shall contract a second or
subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been
legally dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been
declared presumptively dead by means of a judgment
rendered in the proper proceedings.‰ A plain reading of the
law, therefore, would indicate that the provision penalizes
the mere act of contracting a second or a subsequent
marriage during the subsistence of a valid marriage.
Thus, as soon as the second marriage to Ancajas was
celebrated on April 10, 1990, during the subsistence of the
valid first marriage, the crime of bigamy had already been
consummated. To our mind, there is no cogent reason for
distinguishing between a subsequent marriage that is null
and void purely because it is a second or subsequent
marriage, and a subsequent marriage that is null and void
on the ground of psychological incapacity, at least insofar
as criminal liability for bigamy is concerned. The StateÊs
penal laws protecting the institution of marriage are in
recognition of the sacrosanct character of this special
contract between spouses, and punish an individualÊs
deliberate disregard of the permanent char-

_______________

21 Record, pp. 16-18.

22 Family Code, Art. 41.

283

VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 283

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

acter of the special bond between spouses, which petitioner

has undoubtedly done.
Moreover, the declaration of the nullity of the second
marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity is not
an indicator that petitionerÊs marriage to Ancajas lacks the
essential requisites for validity. The requisites for the
validity of a marriage are classified by the Family Code
into essential (legal capacity of the contracting parties and
their consent freely 23
given in the presence of the
solemnizing officer) and formal (authority of the
solemnizing officer, marriage license, and marriage
ceremony wherein the parties personally declare their
agreement to marry before the solemnizing
24
officer in the
presence of at least two witnesses). Under Article 5 of the
Family Code, any male or female of the age of eighteen
years or upwards not under 25
any of 26the impediments
mentioned27 in Articles 37 and 38 may contract
marriage.

_______________

23 Family Code, Art. 2.

24 Family Code, Art. 3; Vitug, Civil Law and Jurisprudence, 1993
Edition, pp. 119-120, citing the Family Code, Articles 2 and 3.
25 Art. 37. Marriages between the following are incestuous and void
from the beginning, whether the relationship between the parties be
legitimate or illegitimate:

(1) Between ascendants and descendants of any degree; and

(2) Between brothers and sisters, whether of the full- or half-blood.

26 Art. 38. The following marriages shall be void from the beginning
for reasons of public policy:

(1) Between collateral blood relatives; whether legitimate or

illegitimate, up to the fourth civil degree;
(2) Between step-parents and stepchildren;
(3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law;
(4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and
theadopted child;
(6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the
adopter;
(7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter;
(8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; and
(9) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other,
killed that other personÊs spouse or his or her own spouse.

27 Valdes v. Regional Trial Court, Branch 102, Quezon City, G.R. No.
122749, 31 July 1996, 260 SCRA 221.

284

284 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals
In this case, all the essential and formal requisites for the
validity of marriage were satisfied by petitioner and
Ancajas. Both were over eighteen years of age, and they
voluntarily contracted the second marriage with the
required license before Judge Alfredo B. Perez, Jr. of the
City Trial Court of Lapu-lapu City, in the presence of at
least two witnesses.
Although the judicial declaration of the nullity of a
marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity
retroacts to the date of the celebration of the marriage
insofar as the vinculum between the spouses is concerned,
it is significant to note that said marriage is not without
legal effects. Among these effects is that children conceived
or born before the judgment of absolute nullity 28
of the
marriage shall be considered legitimate. There is
therefore a recognition written into the law itself that such
a marriage, although void ab initio, may still produce legal
consequences. Among these legal consequences is incurring
criminal liability for bigamy. To hold otherwise would
render the StateÊs penal laws on bigamy completely
nugatory, and allow individuals to deliberately ensure that
each marital contract be flawed in some manner, and to
thus escape the consequences of contracting multiple
marriages, while beguiling throngs of hapless women with
the promise of futurity and commitment.
As such, we rule that the third and fourth requisites for
the crime of bigamy are present in this case, and affirm the
judgment of the Court of Appeals.
As a final point, we note that based on the evidence on
record, petitioner contracted marriage a third time, while
his marriages to Villareyes and Ancajas were both still
subsisting. Although this is irrelevant in the determination
of the accusedÊs guilt for purposes of this particular case,
the act of the accused displays a deliberate disregard for
the sanctity of marriage, and the State does not look kindly
on such activities. Marriage is a special contract, the key
characteristic of which is its permanence. When an
individual manifests a deliberate pattern of flouting the
foundation of the StateÊs basic social institution, the StateÊs
criminal laws on bigamy step in.

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28 Family Code, Art. 54.

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 VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 285
Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

Under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended,

the penalty for the crime of bigamy is prision mayor, which
has a duration of six (6) years and one (1) day to twelve (12)
years. There being neither aggravating nor mitigating
circumstance, the same shall be imposed in its medium
period. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law,
petitioner shall be entitled to a minimum term, to be taken
from the penalty next lower in degree, i.e., prision
correccional which has a duration of six (6) months and one
(1) day to six (6) years. Hence, the Court of Appeals
correctly affirmed the decision of the trial court which
sentenced petitioner to suffer an indeterminate penalty of
four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional, as
minimum, to eight (8) years, and one (1) day of prision
mayor as maximum.
WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, the instant
petition for review is DENIED. The assailed decision of the
Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CR No. 21636, convicting
petitioner Veronico Tenebro of the crime of Bigamy and
sentencing him to suffer the indeterminate penalty of four
(4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional, as
minimum, to eight (8) years and one (1) day of prision
mayor, as maximum, is AFFIRMED in toto.
SO ORDERED.

Davide, Jr. (C.J.), Panganiban, Sandoval-Gutierrez,

Corona and Azcuna, JJ., concur.
Puno, J., I join the opinion of J. Vitug.
Vitug, J., Please see separate opinion.
Quisumbing, J., I join the dissent in view of void
nuptia.
Carpio, J., See Dissenting Opinion.
Austria-Martinez, J., I join the dissent of J. Carpio.
Carpio-Morales, J., I join the dissent of J. Carpio.
Callejo, Sr., J., See my Separate Dissent.
Tinga, J., I join Mr. Justice CarpioÊs dissent.

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286 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals
SEPARATE OPINION

VITUG, J.:

Veronico Tenebro has been charged with bigamy for

contracting, while still being married to Hilda Villareyes, a
second marriage with private complainant Leticia Ancajas.
Tenebro argues that since his second marriage with
Ancajas has ultimately been declared void ab initio on the
ground of the latterÊs psychological incapacity, he should be
acquitted for the crime of bigamy.
The offense of bigamy is committed when one contracts
„a second or subsequent marriage before the former
marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent
spouse has been declared presumptively dead by 1means of
a judgment rendered in the proper proceedings.‰ Bigamy
presupposes a valid prior marriage and a subsequent
marriage, contracted during the subsistence of the prior
union, which would have been binding were it not for its
being bigamous.
Would the absolute nullity of either the first or the
second marriage, prior to its judicial declaration as being
void, constitute a valid defense in a criminal action for
bigamy?
I believe that, except for a void marriage on account of
the psychological incapacity of a party or both parties to
the marriage under Article 36 of the Family Code (as so
hereinafter explained), the answer must be in the
affirmative. Void marriages are inexistent from the very
beginning, and2
no judicial decree is required to establish3
their nullity. As early as the case of People vs. Aragon,
this Court has underscored the fact that the Revised Penal
Code itself does not, unlike the rule then prevailing in
Spain, require the judicial declaration of nullity of a prior
void marriage before it can be raised by way of a defense in
a criminal case for bigamy. Had the law contemplated
otherwise, said the Court, „an express provision to that
effect would or should have been inserted in the law, (but
that in) its absence, (the courts) are bound by (the) rule of
strict

_______________
 1 Article 349, Revised Penal Code.
2 Odayat vs. Amante, 77 SCRA 338 (1977), see also People vs. Aragon,
100 Phil. 1033.
3 100 Phil. 1033.

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Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

interpretation‰ of penal statutes. In contrast to a voidable

marriage which legally exists until judicially annulled
(and, therefore, not a defense in a bigamy charge if the
second marriage
4
were contracted prior to the decree of
annulment), the complete nullity, however, of a previously
contracted marriage, being void ab initio and legally
inexistent, can outrightly be a defense in an indictment for
bigamy.
It has been held that, by virtue of Article 40 of the
Family Code, a person may be convicted of bigamy
although the first marriage is ultimately adjudged void ab
initio if, at the time the second marriage is contracted,
there has as yet been5
no judicial declaration of nullity of
the prior marriage. I maintain strong reservations to this
ruling. Article 40 of the Family Code reads:

„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.‰

It is only „for purposes of remarriage‰ that the law has

expressed that the absolute nullity of the previous
marriage may be invoked „on the basis solely of a final
judgment declaring such previous marriage void.‰ It may
not be amiss to state that under the regime of the Civil
Code of 1950,6
the Supreme Court in Wiegel vs. Judge
Sempio-Diy, has held that a subsequent marriage of one of
the spouses of a prior void marriage is itself (the
subsequent marriage) void if it were contracted before a
judicial declaration of nullity of the previous marriage.
Although this pronouncement has been abandoned 7in a
later decision of the court in Yap vs. Court of Appeals, the
Family Code, however, has seen it fit to adopt the Wiegel
rule but only for purposes of remarriage which is just to say
that the subsequent marriage shall itself be considered
void. There is no clear indication to conclude that the
Family Code has

_______________

4 See People vs. Mendoza, 50 O.G. 4767.

5 Mercado vs. Tan, 337 SCRA 122 (2000); Te vs. Court of Appeals, 346
SCRA 327 (2000).
6 143 SCRA 499 (1986).
7 145 SCRA 229 (1986).

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288 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

amended or intended to amend the Revised Penal Code or

to abandon
8
the settled and prevailing jurisprudence on the
matter.
A void marriage under Article 36 of the Family Code is a
class by itself. The provision has been taken from Canon
Law primarily to reconcile the grounds for nullity 9
of
marriage under civil law with those of church laws. The
„psychological incapacity to comply‰ with the essential
marital obligations of the spouses is completely distinct
from other grounds for nullity which are confined to the
essential or formal requisites of a marriage, such as lack of
legal capacity or disqualification of the contracting parties,
want of consent, absence of a marriage license, or the like.
The effects of a marriage attended by psychological
incapacity of a party or the parties thereto may be said to
have the earmarks of a voidable, more than a void,
marriage, remaining to be valid until it is judicially decreed
to be a nullity. Thus, Article 54 of the Family Code
considers children conceived or born of such a void
marriage before its judicial declaration of nullity to be
legitimate similar to the rule on a voidable marriage. It is
expected, even as I believe it safe to assume, that the
spousesÊ rights and obligations, property regime and
successional rights would continue unaffected, as if it were
a voidable marriage, unless and until the marriage is
judicially declared void for basically two reasons: First,
psychological incapacity, a newly-added ground for the
nullity of a marriage under the Family Code, breaches
neither the essential nor the formal requisites of a valid
 10
marriage; and second, unlike the other

_______________

8 I might add, parenthetically, that the necessity of a judicial

declaration of nullity of a void marriage even for purposes of remarriage
should refer merely to cases when it can be said that the marriage, at
least ostensibly, has taken place. For instance, no such judicial
declaration of nullity would yet be required when either or both parties
have not at all given consent thereto that verily results in a „no‰
marriage situation or when the prior „marriage‰ is between persons of
the same sex.
9 Deliberations of the Family Code Revision Committee, 9 August
1996.
10 Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites
are present:

(1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and
a female; and
(2) Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.
(53a)

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grounds for nullity of marriage (i.e., relationship, minority

of the parties, lack of license, mistake in the identity of the
parties) which are capable of relatively easy demonstration,
psychological incapacity, however,
11
being a mental state, may
not so readily be as evident. It would have been logical for
the Family Code to consider such a marriage explicitly
voidable rather than void if it were not for an apparent
attempt to make it closely coincide with the Canon Law
rules and nomenclature.
Indeed, a void marriage due to psychological incapacity
appears to merely differ from a voidable marriage in that,
unlike the latter, it is not convalidated by either
cohabitation or prescription. It might be recalled that prior
to Republic Act No. 8533, further amending the Family
Code, an action or defense of absolute nullity of marriages
falling under Article 36, celebrated before the effectivity of
the Code, could prescribe in ten years following the
effectivity of the Family Code. The initial provision of the
ten-year period of prescription seems to betray a real
consciousness by the framers that marriages falling under
Article 36 are truly meant to be inexistent.
Considerations, both logical and practical, would point
to the fact that a „void‰ marriage due to psychological
incapacity remains, for all intents and purposes, to be
binding and efficacious until judicially declared otherwise.
Without such marriage having first been declared a nullity
(or otherwise dissolved), a subsequent marriage could
constitute bigamy. Thus, a civil case questioning the

_______________

Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are:

(1) Authority of the solemnizing officer;

(2) A valid marriage license except in the cases provided for in
Chapter 2 of this Title; and
(3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance of
the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and their
personal declaration that they take each other as husband and
wife in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age.
(53a, 55a)

Art. 4. The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall

render the marriage void ab initio, except as stated in Article 35(2).
A defect in any of the essential requisites shall not affect the validity
of the marriage but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity
shall be civilly, criminally and administratively liable. (n)
11 One might observe that insanity, which could be worse than
psychological incapacity, merely renders a marriage voidable, not void.

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290 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

validity of the first marriage would not be a prejudicial

issue much in the same way that a civil case assailing a
prior „voidable‰ marriage (being valid until annulled)
would not be a prejudicial question to the prosecution of a
criminal offense for bigamy.
In cases where the second marriage is void on grounds
other than the existence of the first marriage, this Court
has declared 12
in a line of cases that no crime of bigamy is
committed. The Court has explained that for a person to
be held guilty of bigamy, it must, even as it needs only, be
shown that the subsequent marriage has all the essential
elements of a valid marriage, were it not for the subsisting
first union. Hence, where it is established that the second
marriage has been 13
contracted without the necessary license
and thus void, or that the accused is merely 14
forced to
enter into the second (voidable) marriage, no criminal
liability for the crime of bigamy can attach. In both and
like instances, however, the lapse refers to the elements
required for contracting a valid marriage. If, then, all the
requisites for the perfection of the contract of marriage,
freely and voluntarily entered into, are shown to be extant,
the criminal liability for bigamy can unassailably arise.
Since psychological incapacity, upon the other hand, does
not relate to an infirmity in the elements, either essential or
formal, in contracting a valid marriage, the declaration of
nullity subsequent to the bigamous marriage due to that
ground, without more, would be inconsequential in a
criminal charge for bigamy. The judicial declaration of
nullity of a bigamous marriage on the ground of
psychological incapacity merely nullifies the effects of the
marriage but it does not negate the fact of perfection of the
bigamous marriage. Its subsequent declaration of nullity
dissolves the relationship of the spouses but, being alien to
the requisite conditions for the perfection of the marriage,
the judgment of the court is no defense on the part of the
offender who has entered into it.
Accordingly, I vote to dismiss the petition.

_______________

12 De la Cruz vs. Hon. Ejercito, G.R. No. L-40895, 6 November 1975, 68

SCRA 1; Merced vs. Hon. Diez, et al., 109 Phil. 155; Zapanta vs. Hon.
Montesa, et al., 114 Phil. 1227; 4 SCRA 510; People vs. Mora Dumpo, 62
Phil. 246; People vs. Lara, 51 O.G. 4079.
13 People vs. Lara, supra.
14 De la Cruz vs. Hon. Ejercito, supra; Merced vs. Hon. Diez, supra.

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DISSENTING OPINION

CARPIO, J.:

I dissent from the decision of the majority, as expressed in

the ponencia of Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago. The
majority opinion reverses a well-settled doctrine,
established in a long line of decisions, applying Article 349
of the Revised Penal Code. The reversal finds no support in
the plain and ordinary meaning of Article 349. The reversal
also violates the constitutional guarantees of the accused
and the separation of powers.
The majority opinion makes the following ruling:

We hold that the subsequent judicial declaration of nullity

of marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity does
not retroact to the date of celebration of the marriage
insofar as the PhilippinesÊ penal laws are concerned. As
such, an individual who contracts a second or subsequent
marriage during the subsistence of a valid marriage is
criminally liable for bigamy, notwithstanding the
subsequent declaration that the second marriage is void ab
initio on the ground of psychological incapacity.

The issue may be stated thus: if the second marriage is

void ab initio on grounds other than the existence of the
first marriage such as psychological incapacity, is there a
crime of bigamy?
In the present case, the prosecution filed the information
for bigamy against the accused Veronico Tenebro before the
judicial declaration of nullity of his second marriage.
However, before his conviction for bigamy by the trial
court, another court judicially declared his second marriage
void ab initio because of psychological incapacity.
The majority opinion is premised on two basic
assertions. First, the mere act of entering into a second
marriage contract while the first marriage subsists
consummates the crime of bigamy, even if the second
marriage is void ab initio on grounds other than the mere
existence of the first marriage. Second, a marriage declared
by law void ab initio, and judicially confirmed void from the
beginning; is deemed valid for the purpose of a criminal
prosecution for bigamy. I shall examine the correctness of
these assertions.
 The majority opinion holds that the validity of the
second marriage is immaterial and the mere act of
entering into a second

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292 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

marriage, even if void ab initio on grounds other

than the existence of the first marriage,
consummates the crime of bigamy. Thus, the majority
opinion states:

As a second or subsequent marriage contracted during the

subsistence of petitionerÊs valid marriage to Villareyes, petitionerÊs
marriage to Ancajas would be null and void ab initio completely
regardless of petitionerÊs psychological capacity or incapacity. Since
a marriage contracted during the subsistence of a valid marriage is
automatically void, the nullity of this second marriage is not per se
an argument for the avoidance of criminal liability for bigamy.
Pertinently, Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code criminalizes „any
person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before
the former marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent
spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a
judgment rendered in the proper proceedings.‰ A plain reading of
the law, therefore, would indicate that the provision
penalizes the mere act of contracting a second or a
subsequent marriage during the subsistence of a valid
marriage.
Thus, as soon as the second marriage to Ancajas was celebrated
on April 10, 1990, during the subsistence of the valid first marriage,
the crime of bigamy had already been consummated. To our mind,
there is no cogent reason for distinguishing between a
subsequent marriage that is null and void purely because it
is a second or subsequent marriage, and a subsequent
marriage that is null and void on the ground of
psychological incapacity, at least insofar as criminal liability
for bigamy is concerned. x x x. (Bold underscoring supplied;
italics in the original)

The majority opinion concedes that the second marriage in

the present case is void ab initio, even without need of
judicial declaration. The majority expressly admits that the
second marriage does not legally exist, and thus in legal
contemplation never took place at all. Nevertheless, the
majority holds that the second marriage is a marriage that
exists in law sufficient to convict the accused of the crime of
bigamy.
The majority opinion holds that a judicial declaration of
nullity of TenebroÊs second marriage is immaterial in a
prosecution for the crime of bigamy. Such judicial
declaration that the second marriage is void from the
beginning is absolutely of no moment.
Prior to appellant TenebroÊs conviction by the trial court
of the crime of bigamy, his second marriage was in fact
judicially declared void ab initio on the ground of
psychological incapacity.

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Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

Tenebro could count in his favor not only an express

provision of law declaring his second marriage void ab
initio, he also had a judicial confirmation of such nullity
even prior to his conviction of bigamy by the trial court.
The majority opinion, however, simply brushes aside the
law and the judicial confirmation. The majority opinion
holds that the fact that the second marriage is void ab
initio on the ground of psychological incapacity, and
judicially declared as void from the very beginning, is
immaterial in a bigamy charge.
For more than 75 years now, this Court has consistently
ruled that if the second marriage is void on grounds other
than the existence of the first marriage, there is no crime of
bigamy. The Court first enunciated 1
this doctrine in the
1935 case of People v. Mora Dumpo, where the Court held:

Moro Hassan and Mora Dumpo have been legally married according
to the rites and practices of the Mohammedan religion. Without this
marriage being dissolved, it is alleged that Dumpo contracted
another marriage with Moro Sabdapal after which the two lived
together as husband and wife. Dumpo was prosecuted for and
convicted of the crime of bigamy in the Court of First Instance of
Zamboanga and sentenced to an indeterminate penalty with a
maximum of eight years and one day of prision mayor and a
minimum of two years, four months and twenty-one days of prision
correccional, with costs. From this judgment the accused interposed
an appeal. The records of the case disclose that it has been
established by the defense, without the prosecution having
presented any objection nor evidence to the contrary, that the
alleged second marriage of the accused is null and void according to
Mohammedan rites on the ground that her father had not given his
consent thereto.
xxx
It is an essential element of the crime of bigamy that the
alleged second marriage, having all the essential requisites,
would be valid were it not for the subsistence of the first
marriage. It appearing that the marriage alleged to have been
contracted by the accused with Sabdapal, her former marriage with
Hassan being undissolved, cannot be considered as such, there is no
justification to hold her guilty of the crime charged in the
information. (Emphasis supplied)

_______________

1 62 Phil. 246 (1935).

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294 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

2
In People v. Mendoza, decided in 1954, the Court acquitted
the accused of bigamy on the ground that the first marriage
was void having been contracted during the subsistence of
a still earlier marriage. The Court held:

The following facts are undisputed: On August 5, 1936, the

appellant and Jovita de Asis were married in Marikina, Rizal. On
May 14, 1941, during the subsistence of the first marriage, the
appellant was married to Olga Lema in the City of Manila. On
February 2, 1943, Jovita de Asis died. On August 19, 1949, the
appellant contracted another marriage with Carmencita Panlilio in
Calamba, Laguna. This last marriage gave rise to his prosecution
for and conviction of the crime of bigamy.
The appellant contends that his marriage with Olga Lema on
May 14, 1941 is null and void and, therefore, non-existent, having
been contracted while his first marriage with Jovita de Asis August
5, 1936 was still in effect, and that his third marriage to
Carmencita Panlilio on August 19, 1949 cannot be the basis of a
charge for bigamy because it took place after the death of Jovita de
Asis. The Solicitor General, however, argues that, even assuming
that appellantÊs second marriage to Olga Lema is void, he is not
exempt from criminal liability, in the absence of a previous judicial
annulment of said bigamous marriage; and the case of People vs.
Cotas, 40 Off. Gaz., 3134, is cited.
xxx
In the case at bar, it is admitted that appellantÊs second marriage
with Olga Lema was contracted during the existence of his first
marriage with Jovita de Asis. Section 29 of the marriage law (act
3613), in force at the time the appellant contracted his second
marriage in 1941, provides as follows:

Illegal marriages.–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.

(a) The first marriage was annulled or dissolved;

(b) 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 the absentee being
generally considered as dead and believed to be so by the spouse
present at the time of contracting such subsequent marriage, the
marriage so contracted being valid in either case until declared
null and void by a competent court.

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2 95 Phil. 845 (1954).

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This statutory provision plainly makes a subsequent marriage

contracted by any person during the lifetime of his first spouse
illegal and void from its performance, and no judicial decree is
necessary to establish its invalidity, as distinguished from mere
annullable marriages. There is here no pretense that appellantÊs
second marriage with Olga Lema was contracted in the belief that
the first spouse, Jovita de Asis, has been absent for seven
consecutive years or generally considered as dead, so as to render
said marriage valid until declared null and void by a competent
court.
Wherefore, the appealed judgment is reversed and the
defendantappellant acquitted, with costs de officio so ordered.
3
In People v. Lara, decided in 1955, the Court acquitted the
accused of bigamy on the ground that his second marriage
was void for lack of a marriage license. Declared the Court
in Lara:

It is not disputed that the [accused] and Anacoreta Dalanida were

married on July 1, 1947 x x x. Neither is it denied that on August
18, 1951, while the marriage just referred to was subsisting,
appellant entered into a second marriage, this time with Josefa A.
Rosales x x x.
In connection with the contract [for the second marriage],
undisputed documentary evidence show that x x x it was only on
August 19, 1951, that the marriage license x x x was issued x x x.
We are x x x of the opinion that the evidence in this case
virtually beyond reasonable doubt that the marriage license x x x
was issued x x x on the date appearing thereon x x x namely,
August 19, 1951.
xxx
Article 53 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, x x x which „no
marriage shall be solemnized,‰ one of them being a marriage license
duly issued at the time of the celebration of the marriage x x x.
Related to this point, Article 80(3) of the new Civil Code makes it
clear that a marriage performed without the corresponding
marriage license is void, this being nothing more than the
legitimate consequence flowing from the fact that the license is the
essence of the marriage contract.
Under the provisions of the Revised Penal Code there can be
possible conviction for bigamy without proof that the accused had
voluntarily contracted a second marriage during the subsistence of
his first marriage with another person. Such was the interpretation
given by the Court in People v. Mora Dumpo that: „It is an essential
element of the crime of bigamy that the alleged second marriage,
having all the essential requisites, would be valid were it not for the
subsistence of the first marriage.‰

_______________

3 51 O.G. 4079, 14 February 1955.

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296 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals
xxx
As to its validity, the marriage should be examined as of the time
it was entered into. On that precise date all the essential requisites
must be present x x x. In the case before us, the evidence discloses
that the marriage preceded the issuance of the marriage license by
one day. The subsequent issuance of the license cannot in law, to
our mind, render valid what in the eyes of the law itself was void
from the beginning x x x. (Emphasis supplied)
4
In the 1960 case of Merced v. Diez, the Court held that a
prior case for annulment of the second marriage on the
ground of vitiated consent constitutes a prejudicial
question5 warranting the suspension of the criminal case for
bigamy. The Court declared:

Before this Court the sole question raised is whether an action to

annul the second marriage is a prejudicial question in a prosecution
for bigamy.
xxx
In order that a person may be held guilty of the crime of bigamy,
the second and subsequent marriage must have all the essential
elements of a valid marriage, were it not for the subsistence of the
first marriage. This was the ruling of this Court in People vs.
Dumpo, 62 Phil. 246, x x x. One of the essential elements of a valid
marriage is that the consent thereto of the contracting parties must
be freely and voluntarily given. Without the element of consent a
marriage would be illegal and void. (Section 29, Act No. 3613,
otherwise known as the Marriage Law.) But the question of
invalidity cannot ordinarily be decided in the criminal action for
bigamy but in a civil action for annulment. Since the validity of the
second marriage, subject of the action for bigamy, cannot be
determined in the criminal case and since prosecution for bigamy
does not lie unless the elements of the second marriage appear to
exist, it is necessary that a

_______________

4 109 Phil. 155 (1960).

5 In the 1954 case of People v. Aragon (94 Phil. 357), the Court refused to
consider as a prejudicial question the action to annul the second marriage
because the accused was the one who employed force and intimidation on the
woman in the second marriage. The Court said that the accused „may not use
his own malfeasance to defeat the action based on his criminal act.‰ The Court
also said that if the woman in the second marriage „were she the one charged
with bigamy, [she] could perhaps raise said force or intimidation as a defense,
because she may not be considered as having freely and voluntarily committed
the act if she was forced to the marriage by intimidation.‰

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decision in a civil action to the effect that the second marriage

contains all the essentials of a marriage must first be secured.
We have, therefore, in the case at bar, the issue of the validity of
the second marriage, which must be determined before hand in the
civil action, before the criminal action can proceed. We have a
situation where the issue of the validity of the second marriage can
be determined or must first be determined in the civil action before
the criminal action for bigamy can be prosecuted. The question of
the validity of the second marriage is, therefore, a prejudicial
question, because determination of the validity of the second
marriage is determinable in the civil action and must precede the
criminal action for bigamy. (Emphasis supplied)
6
In Zapanta v. Montesa, decided in 1962, the Court likewise
suspended the proceedings in the criminal case for bigamy
because of a subsequent civil action filed by the accused to
annul his second marriage on the ground of vitiated
consent. The Court ruled:

We have heretofore defined a prejudicial question as that which

arises in a case, the resolution of which is a logical antecedent of the
issue involved therein, and the cognizance of which pertains to
another tribunal (People vs. Aragon, G.R. No. L-5930, February 17,
1954). The prejudicial question–we further said–must be
determinative of the case before the court, and jurisdiction to try
the same must be lodged in another court (People vs. Aragon,
supra). These requisites are present in the case at bar. Should the
question for annulment of the second marriage pending in the
Court of First Instance of Pampanga prosper on the ground that,
according to the evidence, petitionerÊs consent thereto was obtained
by means of duress, force and intimidation, it is obvious that his act
was involuntary and can not be the basis of his conviction for the
crime of bigamy with which he was charged in the Court of First
Instance of Bulacan. Thus the issue involved in the action for the
annulment of the second marriage is determinative of petitionerÊs
guilt or innocence of the crime of bigamy. On the other hand, there
can be no question that the annulment of petitionerÊs marriage with
respondent Yco on the grounds relied upon in the complaint filed in
the Court of First Instance of Pampanga is within the jurisdiction of
said court.
7
In De la Cruz v. Ejercito, decided in 1975, the Court,
speaking through Justice Ramon C. Aquino, dismissed a
bigamy case against the accused in view of a final
judgment the accused obtained annulling her second
marriage on the ground of vitiated

_______________

6 No. L-14534, 28 February 1962, 4 SCRA 510.

7 No. L-40895, 6 November 1975, 68 SCRA 1.

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298 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

consent. The Court, ruling that the annulment of the

second mar
riage rendered the criminal case „moot and untenable,‰
explained:

The issue is whether the bigamy case became moot or untenable

after the second marriage, on which the prosecution for bigamy is
based, was annulled.
The City Fiscal of Angeles City contends that the lower court
acted correctly in denying the motion to dismiss the bigamy charge.
He argues that the decision in the annulment case should be set up
as a defense by Milagros de la Cruz during the trial and that it
would not justify the outright dismissal of the criminal case.
On the other hand, the Solicitor General manifested that the
stand of Milagros de la Cruz should be sustained because one
element of bigamy is that the alleged second marriage, having all
the requisites, would be valid were it not for the subsistence of the
first marriage (People vs. Mora Dumpo, 62 Phil. 246, 248; Merced
vs. Hon. Diez, 109 Phil. 155; Zapanta vs. Montesa, 114 Phil. 1227).
We hold that the finding in the annulment case that the second
marriage contracted by Milagros de la Cruz with Sergeant Gaccino
was a nullity is determinative of her innocence and precludes the
rendition of a verdict that she committed bigamy. To try the criminal
case in the face of such a finding would be unwarranted. (Emphasis
supplied)

These decisions of the Court declaring there is no crime of

bigamy if the second marriage is void on grounds other
than the existence of the first marriage merely apply the
clear language and intent of Article 349 of the Revised
Penal Code. This Article provides as follows:
Article 349. Bigamy.–The penalty of prision mayor shall
be imposed upon any person who shall contract a second or
subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been
legally dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been
declared presumptively dead by means of judgment
rendered in the proper proceedings.
Under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code, the
essential elements of the crime of bigamy are:

1. The offender is legally married;

2. The marriage is not legally dissolved;
3. The offender contracts a second or subsequent
marriage;
4. The second or subsequent marriage is valid except
for the existence of the first marriage.

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VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 299

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

The first three elements reiterate the language of the law.

The lastelement, the validity of the second marriage except
for the existence of the first marriage, necessarily follows
from the language ofthe law that the offender contracts a
„second or subsequent marriage.‰
If the second marriage is void ab initio on grounds other
than the existence of the first marriage, then legally there
exists no second marriage. Article 35 of the Family Code
enumerates the marriages that are „void from the
beginning.‰ The succeeding article, Article 36, declares that
a marriage contracted by one psychologically incapacitated
„shall likewise be void.‰ Article 1409 of the Civil Code
declares „inexistent and void from the beginning‰ contracts
„expressly x x x declared void by law.‰ Thus, a marriage
contracted by one psychologically incapacitated at the time
of the marriage is legally inexistent and void from the
beginning. Such void marriage cannot constitute a second
marriage to sustain a conviction for bigamy under Article
349 of the Revised Penal Code.
 If the second marriage is void solely because of the
existence of the first marriage, the nullity of the second
marriage proceeds from its illegality or bigamous nature.
However, if the second marriage is void on grounds other
than the existence of the first marriage, the nullity does
not proceed from its illegality or bigamous nature. The first
situation results in the crime of bigamy while the second
does not. This is clear from Article 1411 of the Civil Code
which provides:

Article 1411. When the nullity proceeds from the illegality of the
cause or object of the contract, and the act constitutes a criminal
act, both parties being in pari delicto, they shall have no action
against each other, and both shall be prosecuted. x x x.
The rule shall be applicable when only one of the parties is
guilty;

x x x.

Thus, if the second marriage is void because of

psychological incapacity, the nullity does not proceed from
an illegal or criminal cause, and no prosecution could
ensue. However, if the second marriage is void solely
because of the existence of the first marriage, the nullity
proceeds from an illegal or criminal cause, and thus
prosecution should follow.
The plain and ordinary meaning of Article 349 could
only be that the second marriage must be valid were it not
for the existence of

300

300 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

the first marriage. This has been the consistent

interpretation of the Court for more than seven decades
since the enactment of the Revised Penal Code. Text
writers in criminal law have never entertained or advanced
any other interpretation. There is no cogent reason to
depart from the well-established jurisprudence on Article
349 of the Revised Penal Code.
Even assuming, for the sake of argument, there is doubt
on the interpretation of Article 349, substantive due
process of law requires a strict interpretation of Article 349
against the State and a liberal interpretation in favor of
the accused. The majority opinion reverses this principle
and interprets Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code
strictly against the accused and liberally in favor of the
State.
Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code does not state that
it is immaterial whether the second marriage is valid or
void ab initio. This Article does not also state that the mere
act of celebration of the second marriage, while the first
marriage subsists, constitutes the crime of bigamy. Article
349 speaks of a „second or subsequent marriage‰ which, as
commonly understood and applied consistently by the
Court, means a valid second marriage were it not for the
existence of the first marriage.
To hold that the validity of the second marriage is
immaterial, as the majority opinion so holds, would
interpret Article 349 too liberally in favor of the State and
too strictly against the accused. This violates the well-
settled principle of statutory8
construction that the Court
declared in People v. Garcia:

Criminal and penal statutes must be strictly construed, that is, they
cannot be enlarged or extended by intendment, implication, or by
any equitable considerations. In other words, the language cannot
be enlarged beyond the ordinary meaning of its terms in order to
carry into effect the general purpose for which the statute was
enacted. Only those persons, offenses, and penalties, clearly
included, beyond any reasonable doubt, will be considered within
the statuteÊs operation. They must come clearly within both the
spirit and the letter of the statute, and where there is any
reasonable doubt, it must be resolved in favor of the person accused
of violating the statute; that is, all questions in doubt will be
resolved in favor of those from whom the penalty is sought.
(Statutory Construction, Crawford, pp. 460-462.)

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8 85 Phil. 651 (1950).

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VOL. 423, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 301

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

The principle of statutory construction that penal laws are

liberally construed in favor of the accused and strictly
against the State is deeply9
rooted in the need to protect
constitutional guarantees. This principle serves notice to
the public that only those acts clearly and plainly
prohibited in penal laws are subject to criminal sanctions.
To expand penal laws beyond their clear and plain meaning
is no longer fair notice to the public. Thus, the principle
insures observance of due process of law. The principle also
prevents discriminatory application of penal laws. State
prosecutors have no power to broaden arbitrarily the
application of penal laws beyond the plain and common
understanding of the people who are subject to their
penalties. Hence, the principle insures equal protection of
the law.
The principle is also rooted in the need to maintain the
separation of powers by insuring that the legislature, and
not the 10judiciary, defines crimes and prescribes their
penalties. As aptly stated by the U.S. Supreme Court,
speaking through Chief11
Justice John Marshall, in United
States v. Wiltberger:

The rule that penal laws are to be construed strictly, is perhaps not
much less old than construction itself. It is founded on the
tenderness of the law for the rights of individuals; and on the plain
principle that the power of punishment is vested in the legislature,
not in the judicial department. It is the legislature, not the Court,
which is to define a crime, and ordain its punishment. (Emphasis
supplied)

This Court has specifically applied the rule on strict

interpretation of a criminal
12
statute to the crime of bigamy.
In People v. Aragon, decided in 1957, the Court ruled:

Appellant in this Court relies on the case of People vs. Mendoza, (95
Phil., 845; 50 Off. Gaz., [10] 4767). In this case the majority of this
Court declared:

„The statutory provision (section 29 of the Marriage Law or

Act No. 3613) plainly makes a subsequent marriage
contracted by any person during the lifetime of his first
spouse illegal and void from its

_______________

9 ESKRIDGE, JR., FRICKLEY AND GARRET, LEGISLATION AND

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION 362 (2000).
10 Ibid., p. 363.
 11 18 U.S. 76 (1820).
12 100 Phil. 1033 (1957).

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302 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

performance, and no judicial decree is necessary to establish its

invalidity, as distinguished from mere annullable marriages. There is
here no pretense that appellantÊs second marriage with Olga Lema was
contracted in the belief that the first spouse, Jovita de Asis, had been
absent for seven consecutive years or generally considered as dead, so as
to render said marriage valid until declared null and void by a
subsequent court.‰

We are aware of the very weighty reasons expressed by Justice Alex

Reyes in his dissent in the case above-quoted. But these weighty
reasons notwithstanding, the very fundamental principle of strict
construction of penal laws in favor of the accused, which principle
we may not ignore, seems to justify our stand in the above-cited case
of People vs. Mendoza. Our Revised Penal Code is of recent
enactment and had the rule enunciated in Spain and in America
requiring judicial declaration of nullity of ab initio void marriages
been within the contemplation of the legislature, an express
provision to that effect would or should have been inserted in the
law. In its absence, we are bound by said rule of strict
interpretation already adverted to. (Emphasis supplied)

The majority opinion interprets Article 349 of the Revised

Penal Code to mean that a second marriage, even if void ab
initio on grounds other than the existence of the first
marriage, gives rise to the crime of bigamy. This dissent
interprets Article 349 to mean that for the crime of bigamy
to exist, the second marriage must be a valid marriage
except for the existence of the first marriage. Otherwise,
the language of the law would mean nothing when it
expressly declares certain marriages void ab initio or void
from the very beginning.
These opposing interpretations of a criminal statute call
for the application of another well-established rule that as
between two reasonable interpretations, the more lenient
one should be applied to penal statutes. A leading English
decision puts it in this wise:

If there is a reasonable interpretation which will avoid the penalty

in any particular case, we must adopt that construction. If there are
two reasonable constructions, we must give the more lenient one.
13
That is the settled rule for construction of penal sections.

_______________

13 Tuck & Sons v. Priester, 19 QBD 629 (1887), cited in Cross on

Statutory Construction, p. 172, 3rd Edition (1995).

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Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

In summary, the majority opinion reverses the well-settled

doctrine that there is no bigamy if the second marriage is
void on grounds other than the existence of the first
marriage. The Court has consistently applied this doctrine
in several cases since 1935. The majority opinion reverses
this doctrine by disregarding the plain and ordinary
meaning of the clear language of a criminal statute–Article
349 of the Revised Penal Code. The majority opinion then
proceeds to interpret the criminal statute strictly against
the accused and liberally in favor of the State. The majority
opinion makes this new interpretation even as Article 349
has remained unchanged since its enactment into law on 1
January 1932. The majority opinion effectively amends the
language of Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code in
violation of the separation of powers.
A final word. Even before appellant TenebroÊs conviction
of the crime of bigamy, he had already secured a judicial
declaration of nullity of his second marriage on the ground
of psychological incapacity. This judicial declaration merely
confirmed what the law already explicitly provides–that a
marriage contracted by one psychologically incapacitated to
marry is void from the very beginning and thus legally
inexistent. Inexplicably, the majority opinion still holds
that the second marriage exists to warrant TenebroÊs
conviction of the crime of bigamy.
Accordingly, I dissent from the majority opinion and vote
to grant the petition.

SEPARATE DISSENTING OPINION

CALLEJO, SR., J.:

I vote to grant pro hac vice the petition.

The prosecution was burdened to prove beyond
reasonable doubt the 1corpus delicti, namely, all the
elements of the crime. In this case, the prosecution
adduced evidence that the petitioner contracted marriage
with Hilda and during the subsistence of said marriage, he
contracted a second marriage with the private respondent.
However, the petitioner adduced in evidence the decision

_______________

1 Fuquay v. State of Alabama, 56 American Law Reports, 1264 (1927).

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304 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

Tenebro vs. Court of Appeals

of the Regional Trial Court in Civil Case No. AU-885 before

the court a quo rendered judgment convicting the
petitioner of bigamy declaring null and void ab initio the
petitionerÊs marriage with the private respondent on the
ground of the latterÊs psychological incapacity. Since the
second marriage is null and void ab initio,such marriage in
contemplation of criminal law never existed and for that
reason, one of the essential elements of bigamy has
disappeared. To quote Groizard:

. . . El matrimonio entonces, en realidad, no existe, pierde toda

fuerza en virtud del vicio intrinseco que lleva, y, por tanto, uno de los
elementos del delito desaparece y la declaracion de inculpabilidad
procede. Esto que es logico y llano en el teireno de los principios, no
puede, sin embargo, admitirse sin ciertas restricciones en la practica
2
...

Whether or not the decision of the RTC declaring the

second marriage null and void ab initio, is erroneous is
beside the point. Neither the private respondent nor the
State, through the Office of the Solicitor General, appealed
the decision of the court. Entry of judgment was made of
record before the court a quo rendered its decision. Hence,
both the State and the private respondent are bound by
said decision.
 Petition denied, assailed decision affirmed in toto.

Note.–Burden of proof to show the nullity of the

marriage rests upon petitioner and any doubt should be
resolved in favor of the validity of the marriage.
(Hernandez vs. Court of Appeals, 320 SCRA 76 [1999])

––o0o––

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2 Groizard, El Codigo Penal, 5th ed., Vol. 5, p. 599.

305

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