Case Summary (G.R. No. 201614)
Petitioner and Respondent
Petitioner: Sheryl M. Mendez
Respondent: Dr. John O. Maliga; Rasad G. Balindong (Acting Presiding Judge, ShDC); Montano K. Kalimpo (Presiding Judge, ShCC)
Key Dates
• April 9, 2008 – Marriage under Muslim rites
• November 2, 2010 – Maliga’s petition for judicial confirmation of talaq and custody prayers filed in ShCC
• November 12 & December 3, 2010 – ShCC orders awarding temporary custody and visitation rights
• August 19, 2011 – ShCC order confirming talaq, awarding custody to Maliga, and ordering mut’a gift
• March 30, 2012 – ShDC decision affirming ShCC custody ruling
• November 12, 2012 – Supreme Court reinstates petition for review
• January 12, 2016 – Supreme Court decision promulgated
Applicable Law
• 1987 Philippine Constitution (due process, judicial decisions)
• Rules of Court, Rule 15, Section 4 (notice of hearing) and Rule 45 (certiorari)
• Presidential Decree No. 1083 (Code of Muslim Personal Laws), Articles 54, 78, 143, 155
• Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Organic Law (for appellate procedure)
Facts of the Case
Sheryl Mendez, originally a Roman Catholic, embraced Islam only at marriage. After wedding, Dr. Maliga alleged she reverted to Christianity, took Princess Fatima to Manila without his consent, enrolled her in a Catholic school, and practiced Christian rites. He filed for judicial confirmation of talaq, citing irreconcilable religious differences and sought temporary and permanent custody of their daughter.
Procedural History
• ShCC granted Maliga’s urgent motion for temporary custody on November 12, 2010; partially modified on December 3, 2010 to allow maternal visitation.
• On August 19, 2011, ShCC confirmed talaq, awarded permanent custody to Maliga, allowed visitation to Mendez, and ordered Php 24,000 mut’a.
• Mendez appealed custody ruling to the ShDC, which on March 30, 2012 affirmed ShCC’s custody decision, finding Mendez disqualified as apostate.
• Mendez petitioned the Supreme Court under Rule 45, raising jurisdictional defects, lack of notice, and best-interest considerations.
Issues Presented
- Whether the ShCC erred in acting on the urgent motion for temporary custody without notice.
- Whether the ShCC and ShDC had jurisdiction to decide custody.
- Whether custody was properly granted to Maliga under relevant Muslim-law and procedural standards.
Jurisdiction Over Divorce and Custody
Under P.D. 1083, ShCC has exclusive original jurisdiction over divorce matters, and ShDC has exclusive original jurisdiction over custody cases. Nevertheless, as an ancillary power under Article 54, a court deciding divorce may determine custody when it flows directly from the dissolution. The Supreme Court recognized that the ShCC possessed ancillary jurisdiction to address custody in the talaq proceeding, without nullifying the ShDC’s primary custody jurisdiction in standalone cases.
Violation of Due Process
Maliga’s urgent custody motion lacked any notice of hearing as required by Rule 15, Section 4 of the Rules of Court (suppletorily applicable). Mendez was not served summons or apprised of the hearings, depriving her of the opportunity to be heard. A motion without hearing notice is a “scrap of paper” and cannot support any judicial order.
Insufficient Factual and Legal Basis
Both the ShCC and ShDC failed to state th
...continue readingCase Syllabus (G.R. No. 201614)
Parties and Procedural Posture
- Petitioner: Sheryl M. Mendez, former wife in a talaq (Islamic divorce) proceeding
- Private respondent and petitioner in the Shari’a courts: Dr. John O. Maliga, former husband
- Respondent courts below:
• Shari’a Circuit Court, 5th Shari’a District, Cotabato City (Presiding Judge Montano K. Kalimpo)
• Shari’a District Court, 5th Shari’a District, Cotabato City (Acting Presiding Judge Rasad G. Balindong) - Relief sought in the Supreme Court: Petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45, challenging the Shari’a District Court’s March 30, 2012 decision affirming the Shari’a Circuit Court’s August 19, 2011 order on custody
Facts
- Mendez and Maliga were married under Muslim rites on April 9, 2008; their daughter Princess Fatima was born prior to the wedding
- Marital relations deteriorated amid disputes over Mendez’s sincerity in Islam, her alleged reversion to Christianity in December 2008, and her enrollment of Princess Fatima in a Catholic school in Manila without Maliga’s consent
- On November 2, 2010, Maliga filed a petition for judicial confirmation of talaq before the Shari’a Circuit Court, with a prayer for probational custody of Princess Fatima pending resolution
- Maliga alleged Mendez’s apostasy, moral unfitness, and risk to the child’s “Islamic growth and values”
- Maliga filed an urgent motion for temporary custody on November 9, 2010; the Shari’a Circuit Court granted it on November 12, 2010, citing the child’s best economic, social, and religious interests under her father’s care
- Mendez filed her answer on November 18, 2010, denied mala fide allegations, claimed primary support of the child since birth, and invoked the rule that custody of children below seven belongs to the mother
- Mendez also filed an NBI complaint for kidnapping and failure to return a minor, and opposed the temporary custody order on procedural and jurisdictional grounds
- On December 3, 2010, the Shari’a Circuit Court partially reconsidered by granting Mendez visitation rights “any reasonable time” within Cotabato City, subject to coordination with Maliga
- An Agama Arbitration Council was constituted on January 19, 2011; it failed to achieve settlement and submitted the case for merits hearing
- On August 19, 2011, the Shari’a Circuit Court confirmed the talaq, awarded permanent custody to Ma