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*SECONDDIVISION.
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marriagehadbeenperfectlyvalid.Thatiswhytheactionordefense
for nullity is imprescriptible, unlike voidable marriages where the
actionprescribes.Onlythepartiestoavoidablemarriagecanassail
itbutanyproperinterestedpartymayattackavoidmarriage.
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1 Penned by Associate Justice Ramon R. Garcia with Associate
Justices Josefina Guevarra Salonga and Magdangal M. De Leon,
concurring.CARollo,pp.94106.
710
710
SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATED
GarciaQuiazon vs. Belen
WHEREFORE,premisesconsidered,theappealishereby
DENIED. The assailed Decision dated March 11, 2005, and
theOrderdatedMarch24,2006oftheRegionalTrialCourt,
Branch275,LasPiasCityareAFFIRMEDin toto.2
The Facts
This case started as a Petition for Letters of
AdministrationoftheEstateofEliseoQuiazon(Eliseo),filed
by herein respondents who are Eliseos commonlaw wife
and daughter. The petition was opposed by herein
petitionersAmeliaGarciaQuiazon(Amelia)towhomEliseo
was married. Amelia was joined by her children, Jenneth
Quiazon(Jenneth)andMariaJenniferQuiazon(Jennifer).
Eliseodiedintestateon12December1992.
On 12 September 1994, Maria Lourdes Elise Quiazon
(Elise), represented by her mother, Ma. Lourdes Belen
(Lourdes), filed a Petition for Letters of Administration
beforetheRegionalTrialCourt(RTC)ofLasPiasCity.3In
herPetitiondocketedasSPProc.No.M3957,Eliseclaims
thatsheisthenaturalchildofEliseohavingbeenconceived
and born at the time when her parents were both
capacitated to marry each other. Insisting on the legal
capacityofEliseoandLourdestomarry,Eliseimpugnedthe
validity of Eliseos marriage to Amelia by claiming that it
was bigamous for having been contracted during the
subsistence of the latters marriage with one Filipito
Sandico (Filipito). To prove her filiation to the decedent,
Elise,amongothers,attachedtothePetitionforLettersof
Administration her Certificate of Live Birth4 signed by
Eliseoasherfather.Inthesamepetition,itwasallegedthat
EliseoleftrealpropertiesworthP2,040,000.00andpersonal
propertiesworthP2,100,000.00.
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2Id.,atp.105.
3SpecialProceedingNo.M3957.Records,Vol.I,pp.19.
4Id.,atp.10.
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712
SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATED
GarciaQuiazon vs. Belen
Onappeal,thedecisionofthetrialcourtwasaffirmedin
toto in the 28 November 2008 Decision10 rendered by the
Court of Appeals in CAG.R. CV No. 88589. In validating
the findings of the RTC, the Court of Appeals held that
Elise was able to prove that Eliseo and Lourdes lived
together as husband and wife by establishing a common
residence at No. 26 Everlasting Road, Phase 5, Pilar
Village,LasPiasCity,from1975uptothetimeofEliseos
death in 1992. For purposes of fixing the venue of the
settlement of Eliseos estate, the Court of Appeals upheld
theconclusionreachedbytheRTCthatthedecedentwasa
resident of Las Pias City. The petitioners Motion for
Reconsideration was denied by the Court of Appeals in its
Resolution11dated7August2009.
The Issues
The petitioners now urge Us to reverse the assailed
Court of Appeals Decision and Resolution on the following
grounds:
I.THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN AFFIRMING
THAT ELISEO QUIAZON WAS A RESIDENT OF LAS PIAS
ANDTHEREFORE[,]THEPETITION
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9Id.,atp.38.
10Id.,atpp.94106.
11Id.,atpp.118119.
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714
SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATED
GarciaQuiazon vs. Belen
when the want of jurisdiction appears on the record.
(Emphasissupplied).
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716
SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATED
GarciaQuiazon vs. Belen
Likewiseunmeritoriousispetitionerscontentionthatthe
Court of Appeals erred in declaring Amelias marriage to
Eliseoasvoidab initio.Inavoidmarriage,itwasthoughno
marriage has taken place, thus, it cannot be the source of
rights. Any interested party may attack the marriage
directly or collaterally. A void marriage can be questioned
evenbeyondthelifetimeofthepartiestothemarriage.22It
mustbepointedoutthatatthetimeofthecelebrationofthe
marriage of Eliseo and Amelia, the law in effect was the
CivilCode,andnottheFamilyCode,makingtherulingin
Nial v. Bayadog23 applicable foursquare to the case at
hand. In Nial, the Court, in no uncertain terms, allowed
therein petitioners to file a petition for the declaration of
nullityoftheirfathersmarriagetothereinrespondentafter
thedeathoftheirfather,bycontradistinguishingvoidfrom
voidablemarriages,towit:
[C]onsequently,voidmarriagescanbequestionedevenafter
the death of either party but voidable marriages can be
assailed only during the lifetime of the parties and not after
death of either, in which case the parties and their offspring
willbeleftasifthemarriagehadbeenperfectlyvalid.Thatis
whytheactionordefensefornullityisimprescriptible,unlike
voidable marriages where the action prescribes. Only the
parties to a voidable marriage can assail it but any proper
interestedpartymayattackavoidmarriage.24
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SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATED
VOL.702,JULY31,2013
GarciaQuiazon vs. Belen
719
(a)Tothesurvivinghusbandorwife,asthecasemaybe,
ornextofkin,orboth,inthediscretionofthecourt,ortosuch
person as such surviving husband or wife, or next of kin,
requeststohaveappointed,ifcompetentandwillingtoserve;
(b)If such surviving husband or wife, as the case may
be, or next of kin, or the person selected by them, be
incompetentorunwilling,orifthehusbandorwidow,ornext
of kin, neglects for thirty (30) days after the death of the
person to apply for administration or to request that
administration be granted to some other person, it may be
grantedtooneormoreoftheprincipalcreditors,ifcompetent
andwillingtoserve;
(c)If there is no such creditor competent and willing to
serve, it may be granted to such other person as the court
mayselect.
Upontheotherhand,Section2ofRule79providesthata
petition for Letters of Administration must be filed by an
interestedperson,thus:
Sec.2.Contents
of
petition
for
letters
of
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SUPREMECOURTREPORTSANNOTATED
GarciaQuiazon vs. Belen
entitledtoshareintheestateasdistributees.28
In the instant case, Elise, as a compulsory heir who
standstobebenefitedbythedistributionofEliseosestate,
isdeemedtobeaninterestedparty.Withtheoverwhelming
evidenceonrecordproducedbyElisetoproveherfiliationto
Eliseo, the petitioners pounding on her lack of interest in
the administration of the decedents estate, is just a
desperateattempttoswaythisCourttoreversethefindings
of the Court or Appeals. Certainly, the right of Elise to be
appointed administratix of the estate of Eliseo is on good
grounds. It is founded on her right as a compulsory heir,
who,underthelaw,isentitledtoherlegitimeafterthedebts
of the estate are satisfied.29 Having a vested right in the
distributionofEliseosestateasoneofhisnaturalchildren,
Elise can rightfully be considered as an interested party
withinthepurviewofthelaw.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petition is
DENIED for lack of merit. Accordingly, the Court of
Appealsassailed28November2008Decisionand7August
2009Resolution,areAFFIRMED in toto.
SO ORDERED.
Carpio (Chairperson), Brion, Del Castillo and Perlas
Bernabe, JJ.,concur.
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28 Solinap v. Locsin, Jr., 423 Phil. 192, 199; 371 SCRA 711, 719
(2001).
29NewCivilCode.Art. 961. In default of the testamentary heirs,
the law vests the inheritance, in accordance with the rules hereinafter
setforth,inthelegitimateandillegitimaterelativesofthedeceased,in
thesurvivingspouse,andintheState.
NewCivilCode.Art. 988.Intheabsenceoflegitimatedescendants
or ascendants, the illegitimate children shall succeed to the entire
estateofthedeceased.
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applicantsseektoestablishthefactofdeathofthedecedent
and later to be duly recognized as among the decedents
heirs, which would allow them to exercise their right to
participateinthesettlementandliquidationoftheestateof
thedecedent.(Montaer vs. Sharia District Court, Fourth
Sharia Judicial District, Marawi City, 576 SCRA 746
[2009])
The appointment of a special administrator is an
interlocutoryorpreliminaryordertothemaincaseforthe
grant of letters of administration in a testate or intestate
proceeding.(Manungas vs. Loreto,655SCRA734[2011])
o0o