5/28/2020
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66, 67, 128, 135 and 136 of the Family Code.[18]
Leticia anchored the filing of the instant petition for judicial separation of property on
paragraphs 4 and 6 of Article 135 of the Family Code, to wit:
Art. 135. Any of the following shall be considered sufficient cause for judicial
separation of property:
(1) That the spouse of the petitioner has been sentenced to a
penalty which carries with it civil interdiction;
(2) That the spouse of the petitioner has been judicially declared an
absentee;
(3) That loss of parental authority of the spouse of petitioner has
been decreed by the court;
(4) That the spouse of the petitioner has abandoned the latter or
failed to comply with his or her obligations to the family as
provided for in Article 101;
(5) That the spouse granted the power of administration in the
marriage settlements has abused that power; and
(6) That at the time of the petition, the spouses have been separated
in fact for at least one year and reconciliation is highly
improbable.
In the cases provided for in Numbers (1), (2), and (3), the presentation of
the final judgment against the guilty or absent spouse shall be enough basis
for the grant of the decree of judicial separation of property. (Emphasis
supplied).
The trial court had categorically ruled that there was no abandonment in this case to
necessitate judicial separation of properties under paragraph 4 of Article 135 of the
Family Code. The trial court ratiocinated:
Moreover, abandonment, under Article 101 of the Family Code quoted above,
must be for a valid cause and the spouse is deemed to have abandoned the
other when he/she has left the conjugal dwelling without intention of
returning. The intention of not returning is prima facie presumed if the
allegedly [sic] abandoning spouse failed to give any information as to his or
her whereabouts within the period of three months from such abandonment.
In the instant case, the petitioner knows that the respondent has returned
to and stayed at his hometown in Maria Aurora, Philippines, as she even
went several times to visit him there after the alleged abandonment. Also,
the respondent has been going back to the USA to visit her and their
children until the relations between them worsened. The last visit of said
respondent was in October 2004 when he and the petitioner discussed the
filing by the latter of a petition for dissolution of marriage with the California
court. Such turn for the worse of their relationship and the filing of the said
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