Arthur vs. Pascua vs. Republic and Shirley Bullos Pascua

Facts:

Petitioner Arthur V. Pascua and private respondent Shirley Bullos Pascua were married on February 8, 2005; their marriage certificate shows solemnization by Rev. Saturnina V. Palero and records a Marriage License No. 5013850 allegedly issued on January 6, 2005 in Taytay, Rizal. The spouses lived together for about nine years and separated in 2014. In March 2017 Arthur filed a Petition for Declaration of Nullity of Marriage in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 289, Malabon City, alleging the marriage was void ab initio for lack of a valid marriage license under the Family Code.

At trial Arthur produced a Certification (March 8, 2017) from the Municipal Treasurer (MT) of Taytay stating that Accountable Form No. 54 with serial number 5013850 was not included in the series issued by the municipality, and called Victorino E. Pangilinan, Jr., the MT’s authorized representative, who identified pages of the MT’s logbook showing issuance records of blank Accountable Form No. 54 booklets and testified there was no entry for serial no. 5013850. Shirley failed to answer or present evidence. The RTC, however, dismissed the petition for lack of evidence, holding that the MT is not the custodian of marriage-license records and therefore the MT’s Certification lacked probative value; the RTC denied reconsideration. The Court of Appeals (CA), in CA‑G.R. CV No. 114345, affirmed the RTC’s July 31, 2019 Decision and October 21, 2019 Order in a Decision dated October ...(Pro-only)

Issues:

• Whether the Certification of the Municipal Treasurer of Taytay, Rizal has probative value and may serve as proof that no valid marriage license was issued to Arthur and Shirley prior to their marriage on Febru...(Pro-only)

Ruling:

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Ratio:

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Doctrine:

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