G.R. No. 221075 . November 15, 2021.
FRANCIS D. MALAKI AND JACQUELINE MAE A. SALANATIN-MALAKI, PETITIONERS, VS. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

Petitioners Francis D. Malaki, Sr. and Jacqueline Mae A. Salanatin were charged with bigamy. Francis was previously married to Nerrian Maningo-Malaki under Iglesia ni Cristo rites on March 26, 1988. While this marriage was subsisting and without it being legally dissolved, Francis contracted a second marriage with Jacqueline on June 18, 2005, solemnized by a Municipal Trial Court judge. During trial, petitioners admitted the subsistence of the first marriage and the subsequent marriage but claimed they could not be penalized for bigamy as they had converted to Islam prior to their marriage. The Regional Trial Court found them guilty beyond reasonable doubt of bigamy, a ruling affirmed by the Court of Appeals.

ISSUE

Whether or not petitioners Francis D. Malaki, Sr. and Jacqueline Mae A. Salanatin are guilty of bigamy. Subsumed in this is determining whether or not a party to a civil marriage who converts to Islam and subsequently marries under the Muslim Code is exempted from criminal liability.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the Petition and affirmed the convictions. Petitioners are guilty of bigamy under Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code. All elements of bigamy were present: (1) Francis was legally married to Nerrian; (2) that marriage was not legally dissolved; (3) he contracted a second marriage with Jacqueline; and (4) the second marriage had all the essential requisites for validity. The Court held that conversion to Islam does not operate to dissolve a prior existing civil marriage. A marriage under the Civil Code remains valid and subsisting until judicially terminated. The provisions of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines (Muslim Code) apply only when both parties are Muslims at the time of the marriage, or when the male party is a Muslim and the marriage is solemnized in accordance with Muslim law. In this case, the first marriage was governed by the Civil Code, and Nerrian was not a Muslim. Furthermore, even under the Muslim Code, a married Muslim man may contract a subsequent marriage only under exceptional circumstances and with strict compliance with formal requisites, including the knowledge of the first wife, which were not met here. Therefore, petitioners’ conversion to Islam did not exculpate them from criminal liability for bigamy.