LANDICHO VS RELOVA Case Digest

LANDICHO V. RELOVA

Facts:
On February 27, 1963, petitioner was charged before the Court of First Instance of
Batangas, Branch I, presided over by respondent Judge, with the offense, of bigamy. It was alleged
in the information that petitioner "being then lawfully married to Elvira Makatangay, which marriage
has not been legally dissolved, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously contract a
second marriage with Fe Lourdes Pasia." On March 15, 1963, an action was filed before the Court of
First Instance of Batangas, likewise presided plaintiff respondent Judge Fe Lourdes Pasia, seeking
to declare her marriage to petitioner as null and void ab initio because of the alleged use of force,
threats and intimidation allegedly employed by petitioner and because of its allegedly bigamous
character. On June 15, 1963, petitioner as defendant in said case, filed a third-party complaint,
against the third-party defendant
Elvira Makatangay, the first spouse, praying that his marriage with the said third-party defendant be
declared null and void, on the ground that by means of threats, force and intimidation, she compelled
him to appear and contract marriage with her before the Justice of the Peace of Makati, Rizal.

Issue: Whether or not the civil case filed is a prejudicial question.

Ruling:
Where the first wife filed a criminal action for bigamy against the husband, and later the
second wife filed a civil case for annulment of the marriage on the ground of force and intimidation,
and the husband later files a civil case for annulment of marriage against the first wife, the civil cases
are not prejudicial questions in the determination of his criminal liability for bigamy, since his consent
to the second marriage is not in issue. "The mere fact that there are actions to annul the marriages
entered into by accused in a bigamy case does not mean that "prejudicial questions" are
automatically raised in civil actions as to warrant the suspension of the criminal case. In order that
the case of annulment of marriage be considered a prejudicial question to the bigamy case against
the accused, it must be shown that petitioner's consent to such marriage must be the one that was
obtained by means of duress, force and intimidation to show that his act in the second marriage
must be involuntary and cannot be the basis of his conviction for the crime of bigamy.
The situation in the present case is markedly different. At the time the petitioner was indicted
for bigamy, the fact that two marriage ceremonies had been contracted appeared to be indisputable.
And it was the second spouse, not the petitioner who filed the action for nullity on the ground of
force, threats and intimidation. And it was only later that petitioner as defendant in the civil action,
filed a third party complaint against the first spouse alleging that his marriage with her should be
declared null and void on the ground of force, threats and intimidation. Assuming the first marriage
was null and void on the ground alleged by petitioner, that fact would not be material to the outcome
of the criminal case. Parties to the marriage should not be permitted to judge for themselves its
nullity, for the same must be submitted to the judgment of a competent court and only when the
nullity of the marriage is so declared can it be held as void, and so long as there is no such
declaration, the presumption is that the marriage exists.
Therefore, he who contracts a second marriage before the judicial declaration of nullity of the
first marriage assumes the risk of being prosecuted for bigamy."