G.R. No. L-81969 September 26, 1988
JOCELYN RULONA-AL AWADHI, petitioner, vs. HON. ABDULMAJID J. ASTIH, District Judge of the Fourth Sharia Judicial District Court and NABIL AL-AWADHI, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Jocelyn Rulona-Al Awadhi, a Filipino Roman Catholic nurse, and private respondent Nabil Al-Awadhi, a Kuwaiti national, were married in Kuwait in 1981. The couple resided in Bohol with their three minor children. On August 25, 1987, Jocelyn filed a complaint for support and guardianship of the children in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Tagbilaran City, which appointed her as the children’s guardian. Nabil filed a motion in the same RTC case seeking joint parental authority.
Without awaiting the RTC’s resolution, Nabil filed a separate petition for custody and guardianship of the same children on November 4, 1987, in the Fourth Sharia District Court in Marawi City. Jocelyn moved to dismiss this Sharia court petition on grounds of lack of jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter, litis pendentia, and improper venue. The Sharia court denied her motion, citing Section 13 of its Special Rules of Procedure which disallows motions to dismiss. Her motion for reconsideration was likewise denied.

ISSUE

Whether the Fourth Sharia District Court has jurisdiction over the petition for custody and guardianship filed by Nabil Al-Awadhi.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the petition, annulled all proceedings in the Sharia court, and dismissed the petition therein. The Sharia District Court patently lacked jurisdiction. Jurisdiction of Sharia courts under Presidential Decree No. 1083 (the Code of Muslim Personal Laws) is limited. Applying Article 13 of the Code, its provisions on guardianship and custody apply to marriages where both parties are Muslims, or where only the male is a Muslim and the marriage was solemnized under Muslim law in the Philippines. Here, the marriage was solemnized in Kuwait, not the Philippines. Furthermore, the petitioner-wife is a non-Muslim Christian Filipino, and both parties reside in Bohol, which is outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Fourth Sharia Judicial District covering parts of Lanao.
The Court emphasized that the RTC of Tagbilaran City had already validly assumed jurisdiction over the same subject matter and parties in the earlier-filed case. A co-equal court cannot oust another court of its jurisdiction once it has attached. Moreover, Article 3 of the Muslim Code provides that its provisions shall not be construed to operate to the prejudice of a non-Muslim. Applying the Code to the Christian wife under these circumstances would be prejudicial. The Sharia court’s reliance on a procedural rule barring a motion to dismiss was erroneous. Lack of jurisdiction can be raised at any time and is not waived by procedural technicalities, especially when apparent from the pleadings. The Sharia court should have dismissed the case sua sponte upon the obvious jurisdictional defects.