On November 1979, the petitioner, being previously married in 1974, and without the said marriage having been legally dissolved, contracted a second marriage. The RTC found petitioner guilty of bigamy in 2001. In 2003, judgment was promulgated declaring petitioner’s 1974 marriage null and void ab initio on the ground of petitioner spouse’s psychological incapacity. In her motion for reconsideration, petitioner invoked said declaration of nullity as a ground for the reversal of her conviction.
Petitioner’s conviction of the crime of bigamy must be affirmed. The subsequent judicial declaration of nullity of her marriage to Alocillo cannot be considered a valid defense in the crime of bigamy. The moment petitioner contracted a second marriage without the previous one having been judicially declared null and void, the crime of bigamy was already consummated. Under the law, a marriage, even one which is void or voidable, shall be deemed valid until declared otherwise in a judicial proceeding.
Without a judicial declaration of nullity of the first marriage, it is presumed to be subsisting. Any decision in the civil action for nullity would not erase the fact that the guilty party entered into a second marriage during the subsistence of a first marriage. Thus, a decision in the civil case is not essential to the determination of the criminal charge. It is, therefore, not a prejudicial question.
