PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS

INSTRUCTIONS

1. This questionnaire contains five (5) pages including this page. Check the number of
pages and their proper sequencing. You may write notes on this questionnaire. 

Read each question very carefully and write your answers in your Notebook in the
same order as the questions. Write your answers only on the front page of every
sheet. Note well the allocated percentage points for each question or sub-question.
In your answers, use the numbering system in the questionnaire.

2. Answer the questions legibly, clearly, and concisely. Start each answer on a
separate page. An answer to a sub-question under the same number may be
written continuously on the same page and the immediately succeeding pages until
completed.

3. Your answer should demonstrate your ability to analyze the facts, apply the
pertinent laws and jurisprudence, and arrive at a sound or logical conclusion.
Always support your answer with the pertinent laws, rules, and/or jurisprudence.

A MERE "YES" OR "NO" ANSWER WITHOUT ANY CORRESPONDING

EXPLANATION OR DISCUSSION WILL NOT BE GIVEN FULL CREDIT. THUS,
ALWAYS BRIEFLY BUT FULLY EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWERS ALTHOUGH THE
QUESTION DOES NOT EXPRESSLY ASK FOR AN EXPLANATION. DO NOT
REWRITE OR REPEAT THE QUESTION ON YOUR NOTEBOOK.

4. Do not write your name or any extraneous note/s or distinctive marking/s on your
Notebook that can serve as an identifying mark/s (such as names that are not in the
given questions, prayers, or private notes to the Examiner). Writing, leaving, or
making any distinguishing or identifying mark in the Notebook is considered
cheating and can disqualify you.

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 I.

On the occasion of Digna’s marriage to George, her father gave her a donation propter
nuptias of a car. Subsequently, the marriage was annulled because of the psychological
immaturity of George. May Digna’s father revoke the donation and get back the car?
Explain. (5%)

II.

Ana Rivera had a husband, a Filipino citizen like her, who was among the passengers
on board a commercial jet plane which crashed in the Atlantic Ocean ten (10) years
earlier and had never been heard of ever since. Believing that her husband had died,
Ana married Adolf Cruz Staedtler, a divorced German national born of a German father
and a Filipino mother residing in Stuttgart. To avoid being required to submit the
required certificate of capacity to marry from the German Embassy in Manila, Adolf
stated in the application for marriage license that he was a Filipino citizen. With the
marriage license stating that Adolf was a Filipino, the couple got married in a ceremony
officiated by the Parish Priest of Calamba, Laguna in a beach in Nasugbu, Batangas, as
the local parish priest refused to solemnize marriages except in his church. Is the
marriage valid? Explain fully. (10%)

III.

When does homosexuality become a ground for declaration of nullity of marriage,

annulment of marriage and legal separation? (5%)

IV.

At age 18, Marian found that she was pregnant. She insured her own life and named
her unborn child as her sole beneficiary. When she was already due to give birth, she
and her boyfriend Pietro, the father of her unborn child, were kidnapped in a resort in
Bataan where they were vacationing. The military gave chase and after one week, they
were found in an abandoned hut in Cavite. Marian and Pietro were hacked with bolos.
Marian and the baby she delivered were both found dead, with the baby’s umbilical cord
already cut. Pietro survived. Can Marian’s baby be the beneficiary of the insurance
taken on the life of the mother? (10%)

V.

Tyrone and Malyn met in 1994. They eventually got married in Hongkong in 1997. The
marriage produced four children: Rio, Ria, Miggy and Jay. Tyrone then went to the
United States with another woman. He left his four children with Malyn in a rented
house in Valle Verde with only a househelp and a driver. After nine (9) long years of de
facto separation, Tyrone filed a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage based on
Article 36 of the Family Code. He alleged in his petition that Malyn left the children
without proper care and attention as she played mahjong all day and all night. She even

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brings their children to her mahjong sessions sometimes. She usually leaves the house
to party with male friends and returns in the early hours of the following day. She also
constantly visits beauty parlors and has an obsessive need for attention from other men.

Tyrone presented a psychologist who testified that Malyn has a Narcissistic Personality
Disorder (NPD) which is present when a person is obsessed to meet her wants and
needs in utter disregard of her significant others. Will the petition prosper? (10%)

VI.

Roderick and Faye were high school sweethearts. When Roderick was 18 years old and
Faye was 16, they started to live together as husband and wife without the benefit of
marriage. When Faye reached 18 years of age, her parents forcibly took her back and
arranged for her marriage to Brad. Although Faye lived with Brad after the marriage,
Roderick continued to regularly visit Faye while Brad was away at work. During their
marriage, Faye gave birth to a baby girl, Laica. When Faye was 25 years old, Brad
discovered her continued liaison with Roderick and in one of their heated arguments,
Faye shot Brad to death. She lost no time in marrying her true love Roderick, without a
marriage license, claiming that they have been continuously cohabiting for more than
five (5) years. (10%)

VII.

Sidley and Sol were married with one (1) daughter, Solenn. Sedfrey and Sonia were
another couple with one son, Sonny. Sol and Sedfrey both perished in the same plane
accident. Sidley and Sonia met when the families of those who died sued the airlines
and went through grief-counseling sessions. Years later, Sidley and Sonia got married.
At that time, Solenn was four (4) years old and Sonny was five (5) years old. These two
(2) were then brought up in the same household. Fifteen (15) years later, Solenn and
Sonny developed romantic feelings towards each other, and eventually eloped. On their
own and against their parents' wishes, they procured a marriage license and got
married in church.

A. Is the marriage of Solenn and Sonny valid, voidable, or void? (5%)

B. If the marriage is defective, can the marriage be ratified by free cohabitation of
the parties? (5%)

VIII.

Silverio was a woman trapped in a man's body. He was born male and his birth
certificate indicated his gender as male, and his name as Silverio Stalon. When he
reached the age of 21, he had a sex reassignment surgery in Bangkok, and, from then
on, he lived as a female. On the basis of his sex reassignment, he filed an action to
have his first name changed to Shelley, and his gender, to female. While he was
following up his case with the Regional Trial Court of Manila, he met Sharon Stan, who

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also filed a similar action to change her first name to Shariff, and her gender, from
female to male.

Sharon was registered as a female upon birth. While growing up, she developed male
characteristics and was diagnosed to have congenital adrenal hyperplasia ("CAH")
which is a condition where a person possesses both male and female characteristics. At
puberty, tests revealed that her ovarian structures had greatly minimized, and she had
no breast or menstrual development. Alleging that for all intents and appearances, as
well as mind and emotion, she had become a male, she prayed that her birth certificate
be corrected such that her gender should be changed from female to male, and that her
first name should be changed from Sharon to Shariff.

Silverio and Sharon fell in love and decided to marry. Realizing that their marriage will
be frowned upon in the Philippines, they travelled to Las Vegas, USA where they got
married based on the law of the place of celebration of the marriage. They, however,
kept their Philippine citizenship.

Can the marriage of Silverio (Shelley) and Sharon (Shariff) be legally recognized as
valid in the Philippines? (10%)

IX.

Marelyn Manalo, a Filipino citizen, met Yoshino Minoro, a Japanese citizen, in Tokyo,
Japan when they ran into each other in a park where the cherry blossom are in full
bloom. Their eyes met and from then on they fell in love with each other and became
inseparable. Six (6) months thereafter, they exchanged their I dos in Manila Cathedral,
Philippines. They thereafter flew to Tokyo and settled therein. In the course of their
marriage, Marelyn saw the true nature of Yoshino. He is not everything she imagined
him to be. According to Marelyn, Yoshino is usually detached and stoic to the point of
being heartless. They usually fight for Marelyn feels that he does not care at all about
her. Due to irreconcilable differences, Marelyn filed a case for divorce against Yoshino
in Tokyo Family Court. After due proceedings, a divorce decree was rendered by the
court. Marelyn went home bringing with her the divorce decree that she secured to have
the same be recognized and enforced in the Philippines. As such, she filed a Petition for
Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgment praying, among others, the
cancellation of entry of marriage between her and Yoshino. Will the petition prosper?
(10%)

XI.

Juan is a Filipino citizen residing in Tokyo, Japan. State what laws govern:

A. His capacity to contract marriage in Japan.

B. His successional rights as regards his deceased Filipino father’s property in

Texas, USA.

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 C. The extrinsic validity of the last will and testament which Juan executed while
sojourning in Switzerland.

D. The intrinsic validity of said will. (5%)

XIII.

Ricky donated One Million Pesos (P1, 000, 000.00) to the unborn child of his pregnant
girlfriend, which she accepted. After six (6) months of pregnancy, the fetus was born
and baptized as Angela. However, Angela died in twenty (20) hours after birth. Ricky
sought to recover the One Million Pesos (P1, 000, 000.00). Is Ricky entitled to recover?
Explain. (5%)

XIV.

Rosa was leasing an apartment in the city. Because of the Rent Control Law, her
landlord could not increase the rental as much as he wanted to, nor terminate her lease
as long as she was paying her rent. In order to force her to leave the premises, the
landlord stopped making repairs on the apartment, and caused the water and electricity
services to be disconnected. The difficulty of living without electricity and running water
resulted in Rosa’s suffering a nervous breakdown. She sued the landlord for actual and
moral damages. Will the action prosper? Explain. (5%)

XV.

If a pregnant woman passenger of a bus were to suffer an abortion following a vehicular

accident due to the gross negligence of the bus driver, may she and her husband claim
damages from the bus company for the death of their unborn child? Explain. (5%)

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