Practice question
When a second marriage is celebrated, the first marriage is merely voidable and has not been annulled. The accused later obtains an annulment of the first marriage and argues that it automatically has the same effect as a void-from-the-start marriage under Pulido. Is that correct?
- Yes, void and voidable are identical.
- No; the voidable marriage was valid and subsisting until annulled, so the later annulment does not itself defeat bigamy already committed.
- Yes, any later decree erases every prior crime.
- Yes, if the accused calls the defect serious.
- No, because voidable marriages can never be annulled.
Legal references
- Revised Penal Code, Act No. 3815, specified articles, as amended: https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/28/20426; Articles 348–350.
- Pulido v People, G.R. No. 220149, July 27, 2021, en banc main decision, bigamy and void marriages: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2021/jul2021/gr_220149_2021.html
- Genio v People, G.R. No. 261666, January 24, 2024, main decision, marriage requisites and criminal proof: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2024/jan2024/gr_261666_2024.html
- RA 10655, repeal of RPC Article 351: https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2015/ra_10655_2015.html
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