**Case name:** Morigo v. People
**Court:** Supreme Court of the Philippines
**Date:** February 6, 2004
**Facts:** Lucio Morigo married Lucia Barrete in 1990 in Bohol, Philippines. Lucia left for Canada to work and later sent divorce papers to Lucio. Lucio remarried Maria Limbago in 1991. A former in-law filed a bigamy charge against Lucio. The trial court and the Court of Appeals convicted him of bigamy.
**Issue:** Whether Lucio committed bigamy by marrying Maria while his marriage with Lucia was still valid.
**Holding:** No, Lucio did not commit bigamy because his marriage with Lucia was void ab initio (from the beginning) due to her obtaining a divorce abroad without his consent or participation.
**Reasoning:** The Supreme Court held that there was no valid marriage between Lucio and Lucia because under Philippine law, divorce obtained by a Filipino citizen abroad is not recognized as valid unless both parties are aliens or naturalized citizens of another country. Since Lucia was still a Filipino citizen when she obtained a divorce in Canada, her marital bond with Lucio was not severed. Therefore, there was no first marriage to speak of and Lucio's subsequent marriage with Maria was valid.
**Disposition:** The Supreme Court acquitted Lucio of bigamy and reversed the lower courts' decisions.
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Topic: Morigo vs People (Read 162 times)