131. Buccat vs.

Buccat Voidable Marriages

G.R. No. 47101 HORRILLENO, J. Date: April 25, 1941

Petitioner: Respondents:

GODOFREDO BUCCAT LUIDA MANGONON DE BUCCAT

DOCTRINE:

I. Facts of the case

The plaintiff requests the annulment of his marriage to the defendant Luida Mangonon de
Buccat on November 26, 1938, in Baguio City, on the ground that, in consenting to said
marriage, he did so because the defendant had assured him that she was virgin.

The plaintiff met the defendant in March 1938. After several interviews, both were engaged
on September 19 of the same year. On November 26 of the same year, the plaintiff married
the defendant in the Catholic Cathedral of Baguio City. After living together in marriage for
eighty-nine days, the defendant gave birth to a nine-month-old boy on February 23, 1939.
As a result of this event, the plaintiff abandoned the defendant and did not resume married
life with she.

II. Issue

Whether or not the marriage of Godofredo Buccat with Luida Buccat can be annulled on the
ground that Luida misrepresented herself as a virgin prior to marriage with Godofredo.

III. Ratio/Legal Basis

No.

The Court sees no reason to revoke the appealed judgment. Indeed, the allegation of the
plaintiff and appellant that he had not even suspected the pregnant state of the defendant is
implausible, since she is, as proven, in a very advanced pregnant condition. Therefore,
there is no place to estimate the fraud of which the appellant speaks. What he alleges in the
sense that it is not uncommon to find people with developed abdomens seems childish to
deserve our consideration, especially since the plaintiff was a first-year law student.

Marriage is a most sacred institution: it is the foundation on which society rests. To cancel
it, clear and reliable evidence is necessary. In this matter there is no such evidence.

Finding the appealed sentence adjusted to the law, it must be confirmed, as we hereby
confirm it, in all its parts, with the costs to the appellant. That's how it's ordered.

Digest Maker: Onilyn M. Molino