Case Digest (A.C. No. 7732)
Facts:
Republic of the Philippines v. Maria Fe Espinosa Cantor, G.R. No. 184621, December 10, 2013, the Supreme Court En Banc, Brion, J., writing for the Court. The petitioner is the Republic of the Philippines (through the Office of the Solicitor General); the respondent is Maria Fe Espinosa Cantor, who filed for a judicial declaration of her husband's presumptive death.
Maria Fe and Jerry F. Cantor were married on September 20, 1997 and lived in Koronadal City. After a violent quarrel in January 1998, Jerry left the conjugal dwelling and was not seen or heard from thereafter. On May 21, 2002—more than four years after Jerry's disappearance—Maria Fe filed a petition before the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 25, Koronadal City, docketed as SP Proc. Case No. 313-25, seeking a summary judicial declaration of Jerry's presumptive death under Article 41 of the Family Code so she could remarry.
The RTC, after proceedings, granted the petition and on December 15, 2006 issued an order declaring Jerry presumptively dead. The Office of the Solicitor General filed a petition for certiorari in the Court of Appeals (CA) under Rule 65, arguing lack of a well‑founded belief and insufficient search efforts. In CA-G.R. SP No. 01558-MIN, the CA, in a decision dated August 27, 2008, dismissed the Republic's petition and affirmed the RTC's order in toto.
The Republic then elevated the case to the Supreme Court by a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45. The issues presented were whether certiorari lies to challenge RTC judgments in Article 41 summary proceedings and whether the respondent had a well‑founded belief that her husband was dead. The Court heard and decided the case En Banc, issuin...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does certiorari lie to challenge the decisions, judgments or final orders of trial courts in petitions for declaration of presumptive death of an absent spouse under Article 41 of the Family Code?
- Did the respondent have a well‑founded belief that Jerry F. Cantor was already dead so as to justify the RTC's declaration of presump...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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