Spec Pro Class 2020

FACTS:

In a petition filed on October 25, 1969 Erlinda Reynoso prayed for the declaration of the absence of her husband Roberto L. Reyes alleging that her husband had been absent from their conjugal dwelling DEAN’S CIRCLE 2019 – UST FACULTY OF CIVIL LAW 234 since April 1962 and since then had not been heard from and his whereabouts unknown. The petition further alleged that her husband left no will nor any property in his name nor any debts. The evidence presented by petitioner in support of her petition established that she and Roberto L. Reyes were married on March 20, 1960; that sometime in April 1962 her husband left the conjugal home due to some misunderstanding over personal matters; that since then petitioner has not received any news about the whereabouts of her husband; that they have not acquired any properties during their marriage and that they have no outstanding obligation in favor of anyone; that her only purpose in filing the petition is to establish the absence of her husband, invoking the provisions of Rule 107 of the New Rules of Court and Article 384 of the Civil Code. After hearing the Court a quo dismissed the petition on the ground that since Roberto L. Reyes left no properties there was no necessity to declare him judicially an absentee.

 

 

ISSUE:

Whether or not the trial court erred in not declaring Roberto Reyes as an absentee.

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RULING:

NO. A perusal of Rule 107 of the Rules of Court on absentees reveals that it is based on the provisions of Title XIV of the New Civil Code on absence. And the reason and purpose of the provisions of the New Civil Code on absence (Arts. 381 to 396) are: (1) The interest of the person himself who has disappeared; (2) The rights of third parties against the absentee, especially those who have rights which would depend upon the death of the absentee; and (3) The general interest of society which may require that property does not remain abandoned without someone representing it and without an owner. It will thus be noted that said provisions of the New Civil Code are concerned with absence only with reference to its effects on property. Article 384, New Civil Code, which is reproduced from Article 184 of the old Code, and relied upon by herein petitioner, refers to the second period or stage of absence, and specifically indicates the precise moment when the same may begin. Thus, this article provides that after the lapse of two (2) years without any news about the absentee or since the receipt of the last news, and five (5) years in case the absentee has left a person in charge of the administration of his property, his absence may be declared by the Court. The primordial purpose of this declaration is to provide for an administrator of the property of the absentee. It cannot be said that because of the comma (,) between the words 'news' and 'and', the two-year period mentioned in the first part of the law has no reference to or bearing on the property of the absentee. For the purposes of the civil marriage law, it is not necessary to have the former spouse judicially declared an absentee. The declaration of absence made in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code has for its sole purpose to enable the taking of the necessary precautions for the administration of the estate of the absentee. For the celebration of civil marriage, however, the law only requires that the former spouse has been absent for seven consecutive years at the time of the second marriage, that the spouse present does not know his or her former spouse to be living, that such former spouse is generally reputed to be dead and the spouse present so believes at the time of the celebration of the marriage.