G.R. No. 219185 - Republic vs. Ponce-Pilapil

Josephine Ponce-Pilapil (Josephine) filed a petition before the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 55 of Mandaue City, to declare her husband, Agapito S. Pilapil, Jr. (Agapito), presumptively dead.
Josephine and Agapito were married on June 5, 2000, and had a child named Juan Miguel Pilapil.
A few months after the marriage, in November 2000, Agapito left without informing Josephine of his whereabouts. There was no indication of quarrel or reason for his disappearance.

Josephine testified that Agapito had a cyst on his right jaw, which was increasing in size, but did not submit medical evidence to prove illness.
She sought information from his only surviving relative, Lydia Bueno Pilapil, who claimed ignorance of Agapito’s whereabouts, and from friends, all of whom denied knowing anything.
Josephine’s inquiries were mostly by letter and through a friend, Marites Longakit Toong (Marites), who personally delivered and received replies from Lydia.
Josephine expressed her belief that Agapito was already dead since he had been missing for more than six years with no news. The purpose was to enable her to remarry.

Marites corroborated Josephine’s testimony about Agapito’s disappearance in November 2000 and lack of information on his whereabouts.
She personally delivered a letter from Josephine to Lydia in Ormoc City and returned with Lydia’s letter-response stating lack of knowledge of Agapito’s whereabouts.

The RTC issued a decision declaring Agapito presumptively dead under Article 41 of the Family Code in relation to Article 253 of the Civil Code.
The RTC found jurisdictional facts established and held Josephine sufficiently proved Agapito had been absent for six years without information about him.
The RTC ordered registration of the decision with the local Civil Registrar and allowed Josephine to proceed.

The Republic of the Philippines (represented by the Office of the Solicitor General, OSG) petitioned for certiorari to annul the RTC Order.
The Court of Appeals (CA) dismissed the petition for certiorari, finding no grave abuse of discretion by the RTC.
The CA ruled that the OSG’s attempt to retry the facts and question the RTC’s evaluation of evidence was improper under Rule 65 certiorari.
The CA denied the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the Republic.

The Republic filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari before the Supreme Court, asserting that Josephine failed to prove a well-founded belief in Agapito’s death or that she made diligent efforts to find him.
Josephine responded that there was no showing of arbitrariness in the RTC order, and the CA correctly dismissed the certiorari petition, which challenged mere errors in judgment and factual findings.

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in finding no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the RTC in declaring Agapito presumptively dead.
Whether Josephine complied with the requirements of Article 41 of the Family Code establishing a well-founded belief that her absent spouse is already dead, based on diligent and reasonable efforts to locate him.