G.R. No. L-15853, 27 July 1960

FACTS:

The trial court dismissed the complaint for Aquino did not show any birth certificate to show the child was born within 180 days after the marriage between the parties. Later on Aquino presented evidence to show proof of the child’s birth but still his petition was denied. The CA denied Aquino’s appeal on the theory that it was not impossible for the parties to have sex during their engagement so that the child could be their own and finding it absurd for Aquino not to notice or suspect that Delizo was pregnant when he married her. In a motion for reconsideration filed by Aquino, Delizo and her counsel did not file an answer thus the motion for reconsideration was denied.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the dismissal of Aquino’s complaint is correct.

RULING:

No. The dismissal is not correct. Under the new Civil Code, concealment by the wife of the fact that at the time of the marriage, she was pregnant by a man other than her husband constitutes fraud and is ground for annulment of marriage.

Concealment of the wife the fact that at the time of the marriage she was pregnant by a man other than his husband constitutes fraud and is a ground for annulment of marriage.

Here the defendant wife was alleged to be only more than four months pregnant at the time of her marriage to plaintiff. At that stage, we are not prepared to say that her pregnancy was readily apparent, especially since she was “naturally plump” or fat as alleged by plaintiff.

According to medical authorities, even on the 5th month of pregnancy, the enlargement of a woman’s abdomen is still below the umbilicus, that is to say, the enlargement is limited to the lower part of the abdomen so that it is hardly noticeable and may, if noticed, be attributed only to fat formation on the lower part of the abdomen. It is only on the 6th month of pregnancy that the enlargement of the woman’s abdomen reaches a height above the umbilicus, making the roundness of the abdomen more general and apparent.

* Case digest by Gretchen Rina A. Lim, LLB-1, Andres Bonifacio Law School, SY 2017-2018