G.R. NO.
94053 March 17, 1993
Republic of the Philippines vs. Nolasco
FACTS:
Nolasco, a
seaman, first met Janet Monica Parker in a bar in England. After that, she
lived with him on his ship for 6 months. After his seaman's contract has
expired, he brought her to his hometown in San Jose, Antique. They got married in January 1982.
After the
marriage celebration, he got another employment contract and left the province.
In January 1983, Nolasco received a letter from his mother that 15 days after
Janet gave birth to their son, she left. He cut short his contract to find Janet. He returned home in November
1983.
He did so
by securing another contract which England is one of its port calls. He wrote
several letters to the bar where he and Janet first met, but all were returned
to him. He claimed that he inquired from his friends but they too had no news
about Janet. In 1988, Nolasco filed before the RTC of Antique a petition for
the declaration of presumptive death of his wife Janet.
RTC granted
the petition. The Republic through the Solicitor-General, appealed to the CA,
contending that the trial court erred in declaring Janet presumptively dead
because Nolasco had failed to show that there existed a well-founded belief for
such declaration. CA affirmed the trial court's decision.
ISSUE:
Whether or
not Nolasco has a well-founded belief that his wife is already dead.
RULING:
No. Nolasco
failed to prove that he had complied with the third requirement under the
Article 41 of the Family Code, the existence of a "well-founded
belief" that Janet is already dead.
Under
Article 41, the time required for the presumption to arise has been shortened
to 4 years; however, there is a need for judicial declaration of presumptive
death to enable the spouse present to marry. However, Article 41 imposes a stricter standard
before declaring presumptive death of one spouse. It requires a
"well-founded belief" that the absentee is already dead before a
petition for declaration of presumptive death can be granted.
In the case
at bar, the Court found Nolasco's alleged attempt to ascertain about Janet's
whereabouts too sketchy to form the basis of a reasonable or well-founded
belief that she was already dead.
Nolasco,
after returning from his employment, instead of seeking help of local
authorities or of the British Embassy, secured another contract to London.
Janet's alleged refusal to give any information about her was too convenient an
excuse to justify his failure to locate her. He did not explain why he took him
9 months to finally reached San Jose after he asked leave from his captain. He
refused to identify his friends whom he inquired from. When the Court asked
Nolasco about the returned letters, he said he had lost them. Moreover, while
he was in London, he did not even dare to solicit help of authorities to find
his wife.
The
circumstances of Janet's departure and Nolasco's subsequent behavior make it
very difficult to regard the claimed belief that Janet was dead a well-founded
one.
