Case Digest: Pulido v. People, G.R. No. 220149, July 27, 2021 (Recit Version)

  Rule 111 | Criminal Procedure - Prejudicial Question


Facts:

The case involves Luisito Pulido who was charged with Bigamy for contracting a second marriage with Rowena Baleda while his marriage with Nora Pulido was still subsisting. Pulido claimed that both his marriages were void, but the court found that his first marriage was valid despite the absence of a marriage license. 

The Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction for bigamy since he entered into a second marriage while his prior marriage was subsisting, without obtaining a judicial declaration of the nullity of his prior marriage. 


Issue:

WoN a judicial declaration of nullity of marriage secured after the celebration of the second marriage should be considered a valid defense in Bigamy cases.


Ruling:

Parties in a bigamy case are not required to obtain a judicial declaration of absolute nullity of a void ab initio first and subsequent marriages in order to use it as a defense. This applies to marriages celebrated under both the Civil Code and the Family Code. However, if the first or second marriage is only voidable, an annulment decree cannot be used as a defense in a bigamy case since the voidable marriage is considered valid when the second marriage was contracted. A more liberal view that a void ab initio marriage can be used as a defense in bigamy without a separate judicial declaration of absolute nullity should be adopted. The retroactive effects of a void ab initio marriage, the purpose of Article 40 of the Family Code, and the rule on statutory construction of penal laws support this view. Pulido is acquitted from the crime of bigamy due to the absence of a prior valid marriage and the subsequent judicial declaration of absolute nullity of his first marriage.




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