PEÑA, TABITHA ERLINDA MA. PAS A.

174062
Topic: Bigamy

PEOPLE vs. ARAGON

G.R. No. L-10016. February 28, 1957
Labrador, J.

FACTS:

1. On September 28, 1925, the accused, under the name of Proceso Rosima, contracted marriage with
Maria Gorrea in the Philippine Independent Church in Cebu.
2. While his marriage with Gorrea was subsisting, the accused, under the name of Proceso Aragon,
contracted a canonical marriage with Maria Faicol on August 27, 1934, in the Santa Teresita Church in
Iloilo City.
3. As the accused was then a traveling salesman, he commuted between Iloilo where he maintained Faicol
and Cebu where he maintained his first wife, Gorrea.
4. On August 5, 1939, Gorrea died; seeing that the coast was clear in Cebu, the accused brought Faicol to
Cebu City, where the latter worked as a teachernurse.
5. Notwithstanding, it would seem that the accused and Faicol did not live a happy marital life in Cebu
for it appears that in 1949 and 1950, Faicol suffered injuries to her eyes because of physical
maltreatment in the hands of the accused—As such, the accused sent Faicol to Iloilo for treatment.
6. As Faicol was undergoing treatment in Iloilo, the accused contracted his third marriage with Jesusa
Maglasang in Cebu.
7. Consequently, the accused made an attempt to deny his previous marriage with Faicol before the lower
court—Said court, however, ruled that the attempt is futile because the marriage to Faicol was
established by the certificate of said marriage, the testimony of Faicol and one of the sponsors of the
wedding, and the identification of the accused made by Faicol herself.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the marriage of the accused with his third wife constitutes bigamy

RULING:

No. It is to be noted that the action was instituted upon complaint of the second wife, whose
marriage with the accused was not renewed after the death of the first wife and before the third marriage
was entered into. Hence, the last marriage was a valid one.