Abbas vs.

Abbas
G.R. No. 183896
http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2013/jan2013/gr_183896_2013.html
Facts:
Syed Azhar Abbas, a Pakistani citizen, testified that he met Gloria Goo-Abbas, a Filipino citizen,
in Taiwan in 1991, and they were married in 1992 at the Taipei Mosque in Taiwan. 4 He arrived
in the Philippines in 1992 and in January 1993, Syed was at the house of Felicitas Goo, mother
of Gloria. He was told that he was going to undergo some ceremony, one of the requirements
for his stay in the Philippines, but was not told of the nature of said ceremony. He said he did
not know that the ceremony was actually his marriage with Gloria Goo.
Later, Gloria filed a bigamy case against Syed. Syed allegedly married a certain Maria Corazon
Buenaventura. To avoid the bigamy case, Abbas filed a petition for the declaration of nullity of
his marriage to Gloria Goo. To prove the validity of their marriage, Gloria presented a marriage
contract signed by Abbas as well as the solemnizing officer who celebrated their marriage. The
marriage contract contained the alleged marriage license issued to Abbas.
However, Abbas presented a certification issued by the Municipal Civil Registrar of Carmona,
Cavite (where the marriage license was allegedly obtained by Felicitas party) which states that
the marriage license, based on its number, indicated in the marriage contract was never issued
to Abbas but to a certain Arlindo Getalado and Myra Mabilangan.
The RTC ruled in favor of Abbas and held that no marriage license was issued in favor of Gloria
and Syed. It also took into account the fact that neither party was a resident of Carmona, Cavite,
the place where the marriage license was issued, in violation of Article 9 of the Family Code.
However, the Court of Appeals reversed the RTC on the ground that there was no diligence to
search for the real source of the marriage license issued to Abbas and that ruled that there was
sufficient testimonial and documentary evidence that Gloria and Syed had been validly married.
Issue: WON the marriage of Syed and Gloria is void ab initio.
Ruling: Yes. Their marriage lacked one of the essential requisites of marriage, as laid down in
Article 3 of the Family Code, which is the issuance of a valid marriage license.
According to Article 4 of the Family Code: The absence of any of the essential or formal
requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio except as stated in Article 35 (2).
Article 35. The following marriages shall be void from the beginning:
xxx
(3) Those solemnized without a license, except those covered by the preceding Chapter.
The resolution of the present case, hinges on whether or not a valid marriage license had been
issued for the couple.

Respondent Gloria failed to present the actual marriage license, or a copy thereof, and relied on
the marriage contract as well as the testimonies of her witnesses to prove the existence of said
license. To prove that no such license was issued, Syed turned to the office of the Municipal
Civil Registrar in Carmona, Cavite which had allegedly issued said license. It was there that he
requested certification that no such license was issued.
In the case of Cario v. Cario, it was held that the certification of the Local Civil Registrar that
their office had no record of a marriage license was adequate to prove the non-issuance of said
license. The case of Cario further held that the presumed validity of the marriage of the parties
had been overcome, and that it became the burden of the party alleging a valid marriage to
prove that the marriage was valid, and that the required marriage license had been
secured. Gloria has failed to discharge that burden, and the only conclusion that can be reached
is that no valid marriage license was issued.
Annent the motive of Syed in seeking to annul his Marriage to Gloria, although it seems that he
seeks annulment only to evade the bigamy suit, the same does not make up for the failure of
the respondent to prove that they had a valid marriage license, given the weight of evidence
presented by the petitioner.
Thus, under the above cited provisions of the Family Code, the marriage of Syed and Gloria is
void ab initio.