Case Digest (G.R. No. 164790)
Facts:
Social Security System and Lorelie B. Solidum, Branch Manager, Cubao Branch v. Gloria de los Santos, G.R. No. 164790, August 29, 2008, Supreme Court Third Division, Reyes, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Social Security System (SSS) and its Cubao Branch manager sought review of a Court of Appeals decision awarding SSS benefits to respondent Gloria de los Santos, the deceased member Antonio de los Santos’ first wife. Antonio and Gloria were married on April 29, 1964 and had three children; Gloria left him in 1965 and remarried Domingo Talens, returned in 1969, lived with Antonio until 1983, then left for the United States.
While in the United States Gloria filed for divorce against Antonio on May 8, 1986 (the decree was granted November 5, 1986) and executed a waiver of conjugal rights earlier on May 21, 1983. Antonio later married Cirila de los Santos on May 23, 1987 and Gloria married Larry Thomas Constant (an American) on July 11, 1987. Antonio amended his SSS beneficiaries on May 15, 1989. He retired March 1, 1996, began receiving a monthly pension, and died May 15, 1999.
After Antonio’s death Cirila applied for and began receiving the pension (starting December 1999). On December 21, 1999 Gloria filed with the SSS Cubao Branch a claim for Antonio’s death benefits; the SSS denied the claim by letter dated September 1, 2000, citing Gloria’s foreign divorce and remarriage and the SS Law’s beneficiary definitions. Gloria elevated her claim to the Social Security Commission (SSC) by filing a petition on February 12, 2001. The SSC motu proprio impleaded Cirila; Cirila moved to dismiss, arguing lack of personality, forum shopping, and that the regular courts should decide marital validity. The SSC denied the motion and, after submissions, issued a Resolution dated February 13, 2002 dismissing Gloria’s petition and declaring May‑Ann (Antonio’s child by Cirila) the secondary beneficiary entitled to the balance of the five‑year guaranteed pension, reasoning that Gloria abandoned Antonio, obtained a foreign divorce, and remarried, thus failing the dependency requirement for primary beneficiaries under the SS Law (R.A. No. 1161 as amended by R.A. No. 8282).
On appeal the Court of Appeals agreed that Gloria’s foreign divorce was not effective in the Philippines (thus her marriage to Antonio subsisted) but held that ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals gravely err in holding that respondent Gloria de los Santos remained a qualified primary beneficiary of deceased member Antonio de los Santos under Section 12‑B in relation to Sections 8(e) and 8(k) of the Socia...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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