FRANCISCO vs TAYAO

Plaintiff and appellant: Juanaria Francisco Defendant and appellee: Lope Tayao

FACTS: -Francisco (plaintiff) and Tayao (defendant) contracted marriage in Manila in 1912 - They got separated in 1917. - The husband then moved to Zamboanga,and thereafter had an affair with a married woman named Bernardina Medrano who was the wife of Ambrosio Torres. - Torres filed a criminal case against Tayao and his wife. They were then sentenced to suffer three years, six months, and twenty-one days imprisonment (prision correccional), and to pay costs. - Relying on this criminal case, Francisco filed to sever the bonds of their marriage in the Court of First Instance of Manila, and was later denied by its judge basing on the fact that Francisco was not an innocent spouse within the meaning of Sections 1 and 3 of the Divorce Law.

ISSUE(S): - W/N Francisco can secure a divorce from Tayao, where the latter has been convicted of adultery and not of concubinage, although the acts for which he was convicted of adultery may also constitute concubinage

HELD/RATIO: - No. Francisco could not secure a divorce because she was not the innocent spouse who filed the criminal case against Tayao. Tayao was convicted of the crime of adultery, not concubinage, which is the only cause of action for filing a divorce against a husband. The institution of a criminal case by the injured wife is essential for the proper initiation of a prosecution for concubinage, and subsequently, for the proper filing of legal separation. What Francisco was asking from the Court was to convict the defendant of the crime of concubinage, although she had not established a prosecution for the same.