L. Title XII – Crimes Against the Civil Status of Persons

Chapter 1: Simulation of Births and Usurpation of Civil Status

Art. 347. Simulation of Births, Substitution of One Child for Another, and Concealment or Abandonment of a Legitimate Child

Art. 347 punishes simulation of births; substitution of one child for another; and concealment or abandonment of a legitimate child with intent to cause the child to lose its civil status.

Any physician or surgeon or public officer who, in violation of the duties of his profession or office, shall cooperate in the execution of any of the acts aforementioned

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Punishable Acts:

• Simulation of births,
• Substitution of one child for another, or
• Concealing or abandoning any legitimate child with intent to cause such child to lose its civil status.

Elements of Simulation of Births:

• Through the offender’s efforts, a child is baptized or registered in the Registry of Birth as the offender’s;
• The offender’s purpose was to cause the loss of any trace as to the child’s true filiation; and
• Thus, the child loses its real status and acquires a new one

Elements of Concealing or Abandoning any legitimate child with the intent to cause such child to lose its civil status:

• The offender conceals or abandons a child;
• The child is legitimate in status, fully developed and a living being; and
• The offender has the intent to cause the child to lose its civil status

Notes:

• In simulation, the person’s civil status must be altered
• Simulation involves a woman pretending to be pregnant when in fact she is not. The woman who simulates birth and the woman who furnishes the child are both responsible as principals.
• The fact that the child will be benefited by the simulation of birth is not a defense since it creates a false status to the detriment of the members of the family to which the child is introduced.
• A father who sells his child is not liable for “abandonment” under this article. The practice of abandoning newly-born infants and very young children at the doors of hospitals, churches, and other religious institutions, which was formerly well known in Spain, is what the act of “abandonment” contemplates.

Abandoning a Legitimate Child and Abandoning Minor under Art. 276, Distinguished

Art. 348. Usurpation of Civil Status

Any person who shall usurp the civil status of another, should he do so for the purpose of defrauding the offended party or his heirs

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Usurpation of civil status is committed by a person who assumes the filiation, or the parental or conjugal rights, of another.

Notes:

• Criminal intent of the offender to enjoy the civil rights of another/the individual impersonated, knowing he is not entitled thereto, is necessary to constitute this crime.
• Qualifying Circumstance: purpose of the impersonation is to defraud the offended party or his heirs.
• It is absolutely necessary that there is intent to enjoy the rights arising from the civil status of the person impersonated.

Chapter 2: Illegal Marriages

Art. 349. Bigamy

Any person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a judgment rendered in the proper proceedings

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Notes:

• The crime of bigamy does not fall within the category of private crimes or crimes that cannot be prosecuted de oficio. Hence, it can be prosecuted even without the initiative of the offended party.
• An accused may assert and prove the absolute nullity of the first marriage as a defense to bigamy without a prior judicial declaration of nullity. A judicial declaration remains required for purposes of remarriage under Family Code, Art. 40. Similarly, there must also be a summary proceeding to declare the absent spouse presumptively dead for purposes of remarriage.
• Even if the first marriage was subsequently annulled, there is bigamy if the second marriage took place during the existence of the first marriage. In such a situation, the validity of the first marriage is not a prejudicial question to the liability of bigamy.
• Under Pulido v. People, G.R. No. 220149, July 27, 2021, an accused may raise the second marriage's absolute nullity on a ground independent of the subsisting first marriage as a defense to bigamy. However, in Tenebro v CA, GR No. 150578 (citation for verification), the SC had held that the nullity of the second marriage is immaterial in a prosecution for the crime of bigamy. “A plain reading of [Art. 349] would indicate that the provision penalizes the mere act of contracting a second or subsequent marriage during the subsistence of a valid marriage. xxx [T]here is no cogent reason for distinguishing between a subsequent marriage that is null and void purely because it is a second marriage, and a subsequent marriage that is null and void on the ground of psychological incapacity, at least insofar as criminal liability for bigamy is concerned.” (A dissenting opinion from Justice Carpio and others points out that the majority opinion unduly disregards the fourth element of bigamy and jurisprudence thereon.) That historical ruling must be read subject to Pulido's later controlling rule.
• One convicted for bigamy may be prosecuted for concubinage, as they are distinct offenses. However, the second spouse is not necessarily liable for bigamy.
• One who falsely vouches for the capacity to marry of either of the contracting parties, knowing that one of the parties is already married, is an accomplice.
• If the accused, in contracting the second marriage, acted on the honest belief that he was lawfully divorce from his first wife, he is liable for bigamy through reckless imprudence. (REYES, BOOK TWO, p.1010, citing People v. Schneckenburger, C.A., G. R. No. 2457)
• A pardon by the offended party does not extinguish the criminal action, considering that bigamy is a public offense which can be denounced not only by the person affected thereby but even by a civic-spirited citizen who may come to know the same.
• The false application for a marriage license which the person guilty of bigamy swore to, although felonious, should be considered absorbed in the crime of bigamy since it is a routine step in contracting any marriage.
• The 15-year prescriptive period for the crime of bigamy must be counted from the date of the discovery of the second marriage by the offended spouse.

Persons liable:

• The person who contracts a second or subsequent marriage while a prior marriage subsists, regardless of sex (Revised Penal Code, Art. 349); and
• The other contracting party, only if liable under the rules on participation in the offense (Revised Penal Code, Arts. 17–19 and 349).

Burden of Proof in Bigamy

• Once the prosecution has established that the defendant was already married at the time he contracted the second marriage, the burden of proof to show the prior dissolution of the first marriage is upon the defense.
• When a person marries twice, the second marriage is presumed valid and the former one is presumed to have been dissolved by death or divorce. But this presumption may yield to circumstances.

Jurisprudence:

The mere private act of signing a marriage contract bears no semblance to a valid marriage and, thus, needs no judicial declaration of nullity. Such act alone, without more, cannot be deemed to constitute an ostensibly valid marriage for which petitioner might be held liable for bigamy unless he first secures a judicial declaration of its nullity before he contracts a subsequent marriage. (Morigo v. People, G.R. No. 145226)

For the accused to be held guilty of bigamy, the prosecution is burdened to prove the following: (a) he/she has been legally married; and (b) he/she contracts a subsequent marriage without the former marriage having been lawfully dissolved. The felony is consummated on the celebration of the second or subsequent marriage. It is essential in a prosecution for bigamy that the alleged second marriage, having all the essential requirements, would be valid were it not for the subsistence of the first marriage. (Manuel v.People, G.R. No. 165842)

The second or subsequent marriage contemplated under Article 349 of the RPC is a marriage entered into under the law. It is essential in the prosecution for bigamy that the alleged second marriage, having all the essential requirements, would be valid were it not for the subsistence of the first marriage. Religious marriages are recognized in and may be governed by our laws only if they conform to legal requirements. Religious marriages that lack legal requirements are invalid. They are not considered entered into under the law. X’s marriage was conducted without the authority of a solemnizing officer, making it void. Therefore, it cannot be considered as the subsequent marriage contemplated in the RPC. (Perfecto v. Esidera, A.M. No. RTJ-15-2417 (Resolution), July 22, 2015)

The law provides that a judicial declaration of nullity is indispensable for the purposes of remarriage. In the case of Teves v. People, it was settled that a declaration of the absolute nullity of a marriage is now explicitly required either as a cause of action or a ground for defense. Where the absolute nullity of a previous marriage is sought to be invoked for purposes of contracting a second marriage, the sole basis acceptable in law for said projected marriage to be free from legal infirmity is a final judgment declaring the previous marriage void. X cannot claim to have been in good faith in assuming that there was no legal impediment for him to remarry based merely on the National Statistics Office's issuance of a Certificate of No Marriage Record. Based on X and Y’s Marriage Certificate, along with the photos of the wedding ceremony, they were indeed married. (Jumaquio v. People, GR 224742).

Art. 350. Marriage Contracted against Provisions of Laws

Any person who, without being included in the provisions of the next proceeding article, shall contract marriage knowing that the requirements of the law have not been complied with or that the marriage is in disregard of a legal impediment

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Note:

Art. 351 has been repealed by Republic Act. No. 10655, An Act Repealing the Crime of Premature Marriages. (REYES, BOOK TWO, p.1019)

Art. 352. Performance of Illegal Marriage Ceremony

Priests or ministers of any religious denomination or sect, or civil authorities who shall perform or authorize any illegal marriage ceremony

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Resemblance

• Imitation need not be perfect.
• Resemblance must be such that is likely to deceive an ordinary person dealing with the document.

2nd Act: Causing it to appear that persons have participated in any act or proceeding when they in fact did not so participate.

Elements (2)

• Offender caused it to appear in a document that a person has participated in an act or proceeding; and
• The person did not in fact so participate

Notes:

• Imitation of a signature is not required in this article.
• If performed by a private person, as with all acts under Art. 171, Art. 172 should be applied.

3rd Act: Attributing to persons who have participated in an act or proceeding statements other than those in fact made by them

Elements (3)

• Persons participated in an act or proceeding;
• Persons made statements in that proceeding; and
• Offender attributed to such persons statements other than thosein fact made

4th Act: Making Untruthful Statements in a Narration of Facts

Chapter 3: Seduction, Corruption of Minors and White Slave Trade

Seduction – Enticing a woman to unlawful sexual intercourse by promise of marriage or other means of persuasion without the use of force

Art. 337. Qualified Seduction

Qualified seduction is committed when the offender has carnal knowledge of any of the persons and under the circumstances described below.

The seduction of a virgin over twelve years and under eighteen years of age, committed by any person in public authority, priest, house-servant, domestic, guardian, teacher, or any person who, in any capacity, shall be entrusted with the education or custody of the woman seduced

The seduction of the offender’s sister or descendant, whether or not she be a virgin or over eighteen years of age

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Persons liable:

• Those who abused their authority:
• Person in public authority
• Guardian
• Teacher
• Person who, in any capacity, is entrusted with the education or custody of the woman seduced
• Those who abused confidence reposed in them:
• Priest
• House servant
• Domestic (any person living in the same roof; may be temporary or permanent, as long as in the same house.)
• Those who abused their relationship:
• Brother who seduced his sister
• Ascendant who seduced his descendant (The relationship must be by consanguinity but need not be legitimate.)

Section 5 – Falsification of Medical Certificates, Certificates of Merit, Service, and the Like

Art. 174 – False Medical Certificate, False Certificates of Merit or Service, etc.

Persons liable:

• Physician or surgeon who, in connection with the practice of the profession, issues a false certificate;
• Public officer who issues a false certificate of merit or service, good conduct, or similar circumstances; and
• Private individual, for falsifying any of the documents mentioned in the first two acts

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Elements:

• Crime in Art. 174 has been committed by another person;
• Offender knew of the falsified nature of the certificate; and
• Offender used such false certificate

Scope:

• This article only applies to use of those falsified documents covered by Art. 174.
• This article applies, even if the falsified documents were used in a judicial proceeding.

Punishable act

Giving false testimony in a civil case either for or against the plaintiff or the defendant

Subornation of perjury

• Knowingly and willfully procuring another to swear falsely.
• While this is not expressly punished in the Revised Penal Code, the offender may be liable as a principal by inducement.

Art. 184. Offering False Testimony in Evidence

Any person who shall knowingly offer in evidence a false witness or testimony in any judicial or official proceeding

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