170.

ABANDONMENT OF ONE OF THE SPOUSES

Estrella De La Cruz vs. Severino De La Cruz
G.R. No. L-19565. January 30, 1968
CASTRO, J.:

Doctrine:

To entitle her to any of these remedies, under article 178, there must be real
abandonment, and not mere separation. The abandonment must not only be
physical estrangement but also amount to financial and moral desertion.

Facts:

Estrella and Severino De la Cruz are husband and wife. They were married
on February 1, 1938, graced with six children and resided in Bacolod City.
The total value of their conjugal assets is over P 500,000.00 and they
engaged in varied business ventures such as the Philippine Textboard
Factory, Top Service Inc., and others which were primarily administered by
Severino. Sometime in 1953, Severino stayed in Manila to manage their
growing business. In 1957 he started to live separately from his wife
claiming that she was quarrelsome and extremely jealous of every woman
and he finds it difficult to concentrate in his work. Despite this staying in
Manila, he never ceased to give support to his wife and children. Severino
claimed that he is giving his wife around P 500.00 a month for support and
she and their children continued to draw allowances from his office around P
1,200.00 to P 1,500.00 a month.

On July 22, 1958 Estrella filed a complaint against Severino in the Court of
First Instance of Negros Occidental alleging in essence that Severino had not
only abandoned her but as well was mismanaging their conjugal partnership
properties, and praying for separation of property, monthly support of
P2,500.00 during the pendency of the action, and payment of P20,000 as
attorney's fees. The trial court ruled in favor of Estrella and ordered Severino
to pay the aforementioned fees. Severino appealed the case in the Court of
Appeals but it ruled in favor of Estrella. Thus, the case was brought to the
Supreme Court.

Issue:

Is the separation of Severino from Estrella constitute an abandonment in law

that would justify a separation of the conjugal partnership properties?
Ruling:

No, the separation of Severino from Estrella does not constitute an

abandonment in law that would justify a separation of the conjugal partnership
properties.

Article 178 of the new Civil Code provides that "The separation in fact between
husband and wife without judicial approval shall not affect the conjugal
partnership, except that . . . if the husband has abandoned the wife without just
cause for at least one year, she may petition the court for a receivership, or
administration by her of the conjugal partnership property, or separation of
property.

In the case at bar, Severino admitted that he lives separately from his wife
for a certain period but he never ceased to give support to his wife and
children. In fact, he was able to give at least P 500.00 pesos monthly to his
wife and aside from this, they were able to draw monthly allowances from
his office. The court ruled that physical separation alone is not the full
meaning of the term "abandonment", if the husband, despite his voluntary
departure from the society of his spouse, neither neglects the management
of the conjugal partnership nor ceases to give support to his wife. The
court furthered that the abandonment must not only be physical
estrangement but also amount to financial and moral desertion.

Therefore, Severino is not guilty of abandonment and there is no basis for

the separation of their conjugal partnership properties.