San Luis vs. San Luis

EDGAR SAN LUIS, Petitioner,
vs.
FELICIDAD SAN LUIS, Respondent.

G.R. No. 133743
February 6, 2007

FACTS:

Felicisimo San Luis contracted three marriages during his lifetime. His first marriage was with Virginia Sulit. The couple had 6 children: Rodolfo, Mila, Edgar, Linda, Emilita and Manuel.

Virginia died and five years later, Felicisimo married Merry Lee Corwin and had Tobias. Merry Lee, an American citizen, therafter obtained a Decree Granting Absolute Divorce against

Felicisimo from the Family Court of the First Circuit, State of Hawaii, United States of America.

Consequently, Felicisimo married respondent Felicidad San Luis at Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. After 18 years, Felicisimo died. Felicidad San Luis then sought the dissolution of their conjugal partnership assets and the settlement of Felicisimo’s estate. Felicidad San Luis filed a petition for letters of administration before the Regional Trial Court of Makati City.

Petitioner Rodolfo San Luis, one of the children of Felicisimo by his first marriage, filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds of improper venue and failure to state a cause of action. Rodolfo claimed that the petition for letters of administration should have been filed in the Province of Laguna because this was Felicisimo’s place of residence prior to his death;; Felicisimo being then the Laguna Governor. He further claimed that respondent Felicidad San Luis has no legal personality to file the petition because she was only a mistress of Felicisimo since the latter, at the time of his death, was still legally married to Merry Lee.

Felicidad San Luis submitted documentary evidence showing that while Felicisimo exercised the powers of his public office in Laguna, he regularly went home to their house in New Alabang Village, Alabang, Metro Manila. Further, she presented the decree of absolute divorce issued by the Family Court of the First Circuit, State of Hawaii to prove that the marriage of Felicisimo to Merry Lee had already been dissolved. Thus, she claimed that Felicisimo had the legal capacity to marry her by virtue of paragraph 2, Article 26 of the Family Code and the doctrine laid down in Van Dorn v. Romillo, Jr.

Linda, Rodolfo and herein petitioner Edgar San Luis, separately filed motions for reconsideration from the Order denying their motions to dismiss. They asserted that paragraph 2, Article 26 of the Family Code cannot be given retroactive effect to validate respondent’s bigamous marriage with Felicisimo because this would impair vested rights in derogation of Article 256 of the Family Code considering that Felicidad’s marriage to Felicisimo was solemnized on June 20, 1974, or before the Family Code took effect on August 3, 1988.

ISSUES:

1. Whether venue was properly laid
2. Whether a Filipino who is divorced by his alien spouse abroad may validly remarry under the Civil Code
3. Whether San Luis has legal capacity to file the subject petition for letters of administration
   
   

HELD:

1. YES. Under Section 1, Rule 73 of the Rules of Court, the petition for letters of administration of the estate of Felicisimo should be filed in the Regional Trial Court of the province “in which he resides at the time of his death.” It is incorrect for petitioners to argue that “residence,” for purposes of fixing the venue of the settlement of the estate of Felicisimo, is synonymous with “domicile.” The rulings in Nuval and Romualdez are inapplicable to the instant case because they involve election cases. Needless to say, there is a distinction between “residence” for purposes of election laws and “residence” for purposes of fixing the venue of actions. In election cases, “residence” and “domicile” are treated as synonymous terms, that is, the fixed permanent residence to which when absent, one has the intention of returning. However, for purposes of fixing venue under the Rules of Court, the “residence” of a person is his personal, actual or physical habitation, or actual residence or place of abode, which may not necessarily be his legal residence or domicile provided he resides therein with continuity and consistency. Hence, it is possible that a person may have his residence in one place and domicile in another.
   
   Consequently, the subject petition for letters of administration was validly filed in the Regional Trial Court of Makati which has territorial jurisdiction over Alabang, Muntinlupa.
   
   
2. YES. In resolving this issue, the Court need not retroactively apply the provisions of the Family Code, particularly Art. 26, par. (2) considering that there is sufficient jurisprudential basis allowing them to rule in the affirmative.
   
   Art. 26 of Civil Code provides:
   All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35(1), (4), (5) and (6), 36, 37 and 38.
   Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.
   
   Paragraph 2 of Article 26 traces its origin to the 1985 case of Van Dorn v. Romillo, Jr. The Van Dorn case involved a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner. The Court held therein that a divorce decree validly obtained by the alien spouse is valid in the Philippines, and consequently, the Filipino spouse is capacitated to remarry under Philippine law.
   
   As such, the Van Dorn case is sufficient basis in resolving a situation where a divorce is validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse.
   
   
3. YES. Even assuming that Felicisimo was not capacitated to marry respondent in 1974, nevertheless, the Court found that the latter has the legal personality to file the subject petition for letters of administration, as she may be considered the co-­owner of Felicisimo as regards the properties that were acquired through their joint efforts during their cohabitation.
   
   In the instant case, respondent would qualify as an interested person who has a direct interest in the estate of Felicisimo by virtue of their cohabitation, the existence of which was not denied by petitioners. If she proves the validity of the divorce and Felicisimo’s capacity to remarry, but fails to prove that her marriage with him was validly performed under the laws of the U.S.A., then she may be considered as a co-­owner under Article 144 of the Civil Code. This provision governs the property relations between parties who live together as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage, or their marriage is void from the beginning. It provides that the property acquired by either or both of them through their work or industry or their wages and salaries shall be governed by the rules on co-­ownership.
   
   Meanwhile, if respondent fails to prove the validity of both the divorce and the marriage, the applicable provision would be Article 148 of the Family Code which has filled the hiatus in Article 144 of the Civil Code by expressly regulating the property relations of couples living together as husband and wife but are incapacitated to marry.
   
   Therefore, Felicidad’s legal capacity to file the subject petition for letters of administration may arise from her status as the surviving wife of Felicisimo or as his co-­owner under Article 144 of the Civil Code or Article 148 of the Family Code.

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