Dear PAO,

My husband and I have been married since 2008. He left for the United States three years ago and we have been estranged ever since. I recently learned that he married a US citizen there a year ago. Just recently, he reached out to me to inform me that he will be traveling to the Philippines for a visit next month and asked if he could meet up with our children. I am now thinking of taking this visit as an opportunity to file a bigamy case against him for contracting another marriage during the subsistence of our marriage. Can I do that?

Quiel

Dear Quiel,

Criminal laws or penal laws are defined as “those acts of the [l]egislature which prohibit certain acts and establish penalties for their violations; or those that define crimes, treat of their nature, and provide for their punishment.” (Panfilo M. Lacson vs. The Executive Secretary, et al., G.R. No. 128096, January 20, 1999, Ponente: Associate Justice Martin M. Martinez)

In our jurisdiction, criminal laws are primarily governed by Act No. 3815, otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code (RPC), which took effect on January 1, 1932. Its provisions are applied in adherence to the principle of territoriality, which provides that criminal laws are generally applicable only within the State’s territorial boundaries, save for the following instances that allow the extra-territorial application of our penal laws:

Article 2. Application of its provisions. – Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:

1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;

2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;

3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding number;

4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions; or

5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in Title One of Book Two of this Code. (Article 2, RPC)

Simply put, except for the above-enumerated instances, our criminal laws are generally applicable only to offenses committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines.

Bigamy, as defined and penalized under Article 349 of the RPC, pertains to the act of contracting a second or subsequent marriage before a former marriage is legally dissolved. In order to be liable thereto, the following requisites must be present: (1) the offender has been legally married; (2) the first marriage has not been legally dissolved, or in case his or her spouse is absent, the absent spouse has not been judicially declared presumptively dead; (3) he contracts a subsequent marriage; and (4) the subsequent marriage would have been valid had it not been for the existence of the first

In your case, because the second marriage of your husband was celebrated abroad and with a foreign national, the provision of the RPC which penalizes the commission of bigamy is inapplicable. Hence, your husband cannot be prosecuted for bigamy upon his return to the Philippines.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Thank you for your trust and support.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected].