ABBAS V.

ABBAS
FACTS:
Syed, a Pakistani citizen, met Gloria, a Filipino citizen, in Taiwan in 1991, and they were
married on August 9, 1992 at the Taipei Mosque in Taiwan. He arrived in the Philippines in
December of 1992. In January 1993, Syed Azhar Abbas was invited to the house of the mother
of Gloria Goo. He said he was asked to participate in a ceremony to welcome him to the
Philippines. During the ceremony he and Gloria signed a document. He claimed that he did not
know that the ceremony was a marriage until Gloria told him later. Gloria filed a bigamy case
against Abbas. Abbas allegedly married a certain Maria Corazon Buenaventura. To avoid the
bigamy case, Abbas filed a petition for the declaration of nullity of his marriage to Gloria Goo.
To prove the validity of their marriage, Gloria presented a marriage contract signed by Abbas as
well as the solemnizing officer who celebrated their marriage. The marriage contract contained
the alleged marriage license issued to Abbas. He presented a certification issued by the Local
Civil Registrar which states that the marriage license, based on its number, indicated in the
marriage contract was never issued to Abbas but to someone else. He further testified that he did
not go to Carmona, Cavite to apply for a marriage license, and that he had never resided in that
area.
The RTC ruled in favor of Abbas. The Court of Appeals reversed the RTC on the ground that
there was no diligence to search for the real source of the marriage license issued to Abbas.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the marriage between Abbas and Goo is valid.

HELD:
No. Their marriage is not valid or is void ab initio due to it lacked one of the essential requisites
of marriage which is the issuance of a valid marriage license. Abbas did sign the marriage
contract does not make it conclusive that there was in fact a valid marriage license issued to him
nor does it cure the fact that no marriage license was issued to Abbas. Article 4 of the Family
Code is clear when it says, The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render

the marriage void ab initio. Article 35(3) of the Family Code also provides that a marriage
solemnized without a license is void from the beginning.