SOCORRO MATUBIS vs.

ZOILO PRAXEDES
G.R. No. L-11766
October 25, 1960

Topic: When may petition be filed?

FACTS: Plaintiff and defendant were legally married on January 10, 1943. On May 30, 1944,
the couple agreed to live separately from each other. Plaintiff and defendant entered into an
agreement stipulating therein:

(a) That both of us relinquish our right over the other as legal husband and wife.

(b) That both without any interference by any of us, nor either of us can prosecute the other for
adultery or concubinage or any other crime or suit arising from our separation.

(c) That I, the, wife, is no longer entitled for any support from my husband or any benefits he
may received thereafter, nor I the husband is not entitled for anything from my wife.

(d) That neither of us can claim anything from the other from the time we verbally separated,
that is from May 30, 1944 to the present when we made our verbal separation into writing.

In January 1955, defendant began cohabiting with one Asuncion Rebulado and gave birth to a
child who was recorded as the child of said defendant. It was shown also that defendant and
Asuncion deported themselves as husband and wife and were generally reputed as such in the
community.

On April 24, 1956, Matubis filed a complaint for Legal Separation and Change of Surname
against her husband defendant Praxedes on the grounds of abandonment and concubinage.
The court holds that the acts of defendant constituted concubinage, a ground for legal
separation but dismissed the complaint due to prescription and condonation of or consent to the
adultery or concubinage

ISSUE: Whether or not the action for legal separation was already barred by prescription under
the Civil Code.

RULING: Article 102 of the new Civil Code provides: An action for legal separation cannot be
filed except within one year from and after the date on which the plaintiff became cognizant of
the cause and within five years from after the date when cause occurred. The complaint was
filed outside the periods provided for by law. Plaintiff came to know the ground (concubinage)
for the legal separation in January, 1955 and she instituted the complaint only on April 24, 1956.

Article 100 of the new Civil Code provides that the legal separation may be claimed only by the
innocent spouse, provided there has been no condonation of or consent to the adultery or
concubinage. Condonation and consent on the part of plaintiff are necessarily the import of
paragraph (b) of the agreement. The condonation and consent here are not only implied but
expressed. The first part having to do with the act of living separately which he claims to be
legal, and the second part — that which becomes a license to commit the ground for legal
separation which is admittedly illegal.