67 REV. PEN. CODE, Art. 27. 68 People v. Ducosin, 59 Phil. 109, 117 (1933) [Per J. Butte, En Banc].

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Vitangcol v. People

Jurisprudence

GBV Case Type

Nature of the case: The accused, being then legally married to Gina, and without such marriage having been legally dissolved, contracted a second or subsequent marriage with Alice in in Manila City which second marriage has all the legal requisites for its validity with the said accused knowing fully well prior to and at the time of the celebration of the second marriage he was already married to Gina. The accused argued that the first element of bigamy is absent in this case. He presents as evidence a Certification from the Office of the Civil Registrar of Imus, Cavite, which states that the Office has no record of the marriage license allegedly issued in his favor and his first wife, Gina. He argues that with no proof of existence of an essential requisite of marriage—the marriage license—the prosecution fails to establish the legality of his first marriage. The Court ruled on the contrary. All the elements of bigamy are present in this case. Petitioner was still legally married to Gina when he married Alice. Thus, the accused is convicted for the crime charged.

Summary of outcome: The offender is s sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of six (6) months and one (1) day of prision correccional as minimum to eight (8) years and one (1) day of prision mayor as maximum.

Affected Sector

Long title: NORBERTO A. VITANGCOL, PETITIONER, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.DECISION

Geolocation 1

Latitude: 14.589989

Longitude: 120.981499