G.R. No. 111080 - Orosa vs. Court of Appeals

Nilda B. Tampus married Dante L. Del Mundo on November 29, 1975 in Cordova, Cebu.
The marriage was solemnized by Municipal Judge Julian B. Pogoy.

Dante, a member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), left the marital home on December 2, 1975, three days after the wedding ceremony.
He was assigned to Jolo, Sulu, and from that time Nilda received no communication or news from him.

Over the ensuing years, Nilda undertook inquiries with Dante’s parents, relatives, and neighbors in an effort to ascertain his whereabouts.
Despite her efforts, no party was able to provide any information, reinforcing her belief that he might be dead.

On April 14, 2009, Nilda filed a petition before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) to have her husband declared presumptively dead for the purpose of remarrying.
Her petition was supported solely by her own testimony given ex parte, without the benefit of independent corroborative evidence.

The RTC rendered a Decision on July 29, 2009, declaring Dante as presumptively dead on the basis that he had been absent for 33 years with no contact, thus meeting the requisite time period.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), representing the Republic of the Philippines, challenged this declaration by filing a petition for certiorari, which was taken up by the Court of Appeals (CA).
The CA, in a Decision dated June 17, 2013, affirmed the RTC’s ruling, relying on Nilda’s assertions and the elapsed time since her husband’s disappearance.
An OSG motion for reconsideration was later denied by a Resolution dated September 2, 2014, thereby prompting the current petition.

Though Nilda asserted that she made inquiries among relatives and acquaintances, she failed to provide tangible evidence or name witnesses to corroborate these claims.
The petition focused on whether the absence of communication, the mere passage of a prolonged period, and limited inquiry efforts suffice to establish a “well-founded belief” of death.

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the RTC Decision that declared Dante L. Del Mundo as presumptively dead.
Whether Nilda’s efforts to locate her missing husband met the stringent requirements necessitated by Article 41 of the Family Code for establishing a “well-founded belief” in the absent spouse’s death.