Adong v.

Cheong Seng Gee

GR 154380
3 March 1922 En Banc

SUMMARY

Cheong Boo died in the Philippines intestate, and his estate is claimed by Cheong Seng Gee, who claimed he
was the legitimate child by virtue of a marriage contracted in China, and Mora Adong, whom the deceased
married in Basilan. The Court ruled that there was no valid marriage between Cheong Boo and Cheong Seng
Gee’s mother Tan Dit, for failure to prove 1) the existence of the foreign law as a question of fact, and 2) the
existence of the foreign marriage.

FACTS

▪ Cheong Boo, a native of China, died intestate in Zamboanga, leaving property worth nearly P100,000.
▪ His estate was claimed by Cheong Seng Gee, allegedly the legitimate child by a marriage contracted
by the deceased with Tan Dit in China in 1895, proven by an alleged matrimonial letter, and Mora
Adong, allegedly lawfully married to the deceased in 1896 in Basilan according to the rights of the
Mohammedan religion, as well as her daughters Payang and Rosalia.
▪ The TC ruled that the proof of marriage of Tan Dit to the deceased was insufficient, and as such
Cheong Seng Gee would share in the estate as a natural child.
▪ Regarding the marriage to Mora Adong, the TC found that the same was adequately proved but was
not a lawful marriage under the laws of the Philippines; Payang and Rosalia would inherit as natural
children.
▪ The court ordered that there be a partition of the property of the deceased between his natural
children, Cheong Seng Gee, Payang, and Rosalia.
RATIO

W/N the Chinese marriage is valid

No. The TC did not sustain the allegation of claimant Cheong Seng Gee that the deceased had married in
China, and the SC did not disturb the appreciation of the facts by the TC.
• The Court noted a strong inclination on the part of the Chinese witnesses, especially the brother of
Cheong Boo, to protect the interests of the alleged son Cheong Seng Gee by overstepping the limits
of truthfulness.
• It was also noted that reliable witnesses stated that in the year 1895, when Cheong Boo was
supposedly in China, he was in Jolo, Philippines.
• The immigration documents only go to show the relation of parent and child existing between the
deceased and his son and do not establish the marriage between the deceased and the mother of
Cheong Seng Gee.
• Section IV of the Marriage Law (General Order 68) provides that “All marriages contracted without
these Islands, which would be valid by the laws of the country in which the same were contracted,
are valid in these Islands.” To establish a valid foreign marriage pursuant to this comity provision,
it is first necessary to prove before the courts of the Islands the existence of the foreign law as a
question of fact, and it is then necessary to prove the alleged foreign marriage by convincing
evidence.
o Immigration documents only served to show that the deceased and Cheong Seng Gee were
parent and child, and do not establish the marriage between the deceased and Tan Dit.
o In the case at bar there is no competent testimony as to what the laws of China in the
Province of Amoy concerning marriage were in 1895. There is lacking proof so clear,
strong, and unequivocal as to produce a moral conviction of the existence of the alleged
prior Chinese marriage.
W/N the Mohammedan marriage is valid or not
Yes. The Mohammedan marriage is proved and valid, giving the widow and the legitimate children of the
union the rights accruing to them under the law.
 • The deceased was married to Mora Adong according to the ceremonies prescribed by the book on
marriage of the Koran, by a Mohammedan Iman (priest).
• It was established by Mora Adong, by the Iman who solemnized the marriage, and by other
witnesses, that the marriage ceremony took place.
• From the marriage day until the death of Cheong Boo, 23 years later, the couple cohabited as
husband and wife. They conceived 5 children, 2 of whom, Rosalia and Payang, are living.
o Both in his relations with Mora Adong and with third persons during his lifetime, Cheong
Boo treated Adong as his lawful wife.
o He admitted this relationship in several private and public documents. Thus, when different
legal documents were executed, including decrees of registration, Cheong Boo stated that
he was married to the Mora Adong while as late as 1918, he gave written consent to the
marriage of his minor daughter, Payang.
• Proof could not be more convincing of the fact that a marriage was contracted by the Chinaman
Cheong Boo and the Mora Adong, according to the ceremonies of the Mohammedan religion.

FALLO

WHEREFORE, Judgment is reversed in part, and the case REMANDED to the lower court for partition of the
property in accordance with the decision.