CIVIL LAW

Admissions Exam.
Questions.

1. X had been courting Y since December 2020. They were both of adult age. In
consideration of X’s promise of marriage, Y consented to X’s pleas for carnal
knowledge which was done regularly until Y conceived a child. She resigned from
her job due to her condition. Due to X’s refusal to marry her, as promised, she
suffered mental anguish, besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, moral shock,
and social humiliation. An action for moral damages was filed. Decide.

2. A and B are married. During the subsistence of their marriage, A married C. C

filed an action for bigamy at the same time, an action for annulment of her
marriage with A on the ground of fraud. In A’s answer, he stated that his first
marriage is void because of the lack of a marriage license and that his consent
was obtained with fraud and intimidation. He moved for the suspension of the
criminal action on the ground of prejudicial question. Decide.

3. May a patient be detained in a hospital for non-payment of his bills? Explain.

ANSWERS:

1. The woman, Y, is not entitled to moral damages. The act of having committed
repeated acts of intercourse is incompatible with the idea of seduction. There
was voluntariness and mutual passion.

2. There is no prejudicial question. In the instant case, it was the second spouse
who filed an action for annulment of marriage. Assuming that the first marriage is
null and void as alleged by the accused, the fact would not be material to the
criminal case. Parties to the marriage should not be permitted to judge the
validity of their own marriage. For as long as there is no declaration of invalidity
of the marriage, the presumption is that the marriage exists. He who contracts a
second marriage before the declaration of nullity of the first runs the risk of being
prosecuted for bigamy.

3. No. A patient cannot be detained in a hospital for non-payment of the hospital

bill. If the patient cannot pay the hospital or physician’s bill, the law provides a
remedy for them to pursue, that is by filing the necessary suit in court for the
recovery of such fee or bill. If the patient is prevented from leaving the hospital
for his inability to pay the bill, any person who can act on his behalf can apply in
court for the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus.