LAVADIA v. HEIRS OF LUNA GR. No.

171914
Topic: Binding Effect; NCC Article 15, FC Article 26, par.2

FACTS:

Atty. Luna married his first wife, Eugenia Zaballero-Luna, in San Miguel, Bulacan. The
two begot seven children. However, after almost 20 years of marriage, Atty. Luna and
Eugenia eventually agreed to live apart from each other in February 1966. They agreed
to a separation of property which was manifested in a written agreement. On January
12, 1977, Atty. Luna obtained a divorce degree of his marriage with Eugenia from the
Civil and Commercial Chamber of the CFI in Sto. Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
On that same day, he also contracted another marriage, this time with a woman named
Soledad. Atty. Luna was able to establish his own law firm in the following years.
However, he died in 1997, and his properties went to his son in the first marriage.
Soledad then filed a complaint against the heirs of Luna stating that she should own the
property since the same were acquired during the second marriage. In line with the
issues regarding property rights, the heirs of Atty. Luna challenged the validity of the
second marriage.

ISSUE: Whether or not the second marriage between Atty. Luna and Soledad is valid,
therefore the latter has rights over the properties of Atty. Luna

HELD:

NO. Divorce has not yet been recognized in the Philippines. The divorce of the first
marriage obtained in the Dominican Republic is deemed VOID. Moreover, the said
marriage contracted by Atty. Luna with Soledad is also deemed VOID ab initio. It is a
well stated rule that Civil Law follows the citizens wherever they go. Citizens of the
Philippines are still governed by the Civil Code even though they are somewhere else
(unlike Criminal Law). The latter has no rights over the properties owned by Atty. Luna.