Imagine finding out that your spouse has another marriage that you did not know about. This can be a shocking and painful discovery. In the Philippines, if someone marries another person while still being married to someone else, it is considered bigamy, which is a crime.
Recently, the Supreme Court clarified an important point about bigamy cases. A man had three marriages, and his sisters discovered the third marriage 21 years after it happened. They filed a bigamy case against him, but he argued that the case was too old and should be dismissed.
The Supreme Court decided that the time limit or prescription for filing a bigamy case starts when the second marriage is discovered, not when it happened. This means that even if the second marriage occurred many years ago, the case can still be filed if it is discovered recently.
The Court explained that bigamy cases are different because the second marriage is often kept secret. If the time limit or prescription starts to run from the date of the second marriage, it would be hard to prosecute bigamy cases. In the case of Bonbon v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 272844, February 24, 2025, the Supreme Court decided that while the bigamous marriage was celebrated in 1999, it was discovered only by the private complainants in 2020 and filed the instant case in 2022.
As previously held in the case of Sermonia v. Court of Appeals, the rule on constructive notice cannot apply in the crime of bigamy notwithstanding that its application may be more favorable to the accused. Hence, the prescriptive period for the offense should be counted not from the registration of the bigamous marriage but from the discovery thereof. This is because in bigamy, the second marriage is generally held in secret which renders the discovery thereof difficult. The application of constructive notice would then render the prosecution of the violators of the crime almost impossible.
So, if you're in a situation where you suspect someone of bigamy, it is essential to know that you can still file a case even if it happened a long time ago. The key is when you discovered the bigamy, not when it occurred.
If you have concerns about a potential bigamy case, it is best to consult with a lawyer who can guide you through the process. You can contact our Pampanga and Tarlac lawyers at Cunanan Law Office through inquiries@mpeclaw.com, or at (+63)976 385-6705.