G.R. No. 233365

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• So long as marriage remains the cornerstone of our family law, reason and morality alike demand that the disabilities attached to marriage should likewise attach to concubinage."

• whether the ban on a donation between spouses during the marriage applied to a common-law relationship, the Court is faced with a similar predicament in this case

• PEREZ, JR.,•

• PEREZ-SENERPIDA

• Recalling the 1971 landmark case of Matabuena v. Cervantes1

• petitioner Nicxon L. Perez, Jr. (Nicxon)

• Spouses Eliodoro Q. Perez (Eliodoro) and Adelita M. Perez (Adelita) x x x [were] the registered owners of a parcel of land known as Lot 2 Block 9 of the consolidation subdivision plan (LRC) Psc-13291 with a total area of 350 square meters located at Barangay Sta. Rita, Olongapo City

• Out of the marriage of Eliodoro and Adelita, which was celebrated on December 10, 1975 at Infanta, Pangasinan were born two children, Avegail and Adonis Perez (Adonis).8 Prior to his marriage with Adelita, Eliodoro was married and had several children, one of whom was Nicxon Perez, Sr., who sired Nicxon.]9

• ART. 147. When a man and a woman who are capacitated to marry each other, live exclusively with each other as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage or under a void marriage, their wages and salaries shall be owned by them in equal shares and the property acquired by both of them through their work or industry shall be governed by the rules on co-ownership.

• , a party who did not participate in the acquisition by the other party of any property shall be deemed to have contributed jointly in the acquisition thereof if the former's efforts consisted in the care and maintenance of the family and of the household.

• The reason behind the prohibition is to protect third persons who may have contracted with a spouse, believing in the existence of certain properties, and who could easily be defrauded by removing such property by transfer to the other spouse.56

• Going back to Article 87 of the Family Code, the reason for the prohibition is explained thus:

• WHEREFORE, the Petition is hereby DENIED. Accordingly, the Decision dated April 7, 2017 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 105393 is AFFIRMED for the reasons stated herein. However, the Decision dated February 24, 2015 of the Regional Trial Court of Olongapo City, Branch 72 in Civil Case No. 135-0-2010 is MODIFIED as follows:

• Matabuena equalized common-law relationships between a man and a woman, on the one hand, and validly married spouses on the other, in respect of the nullity of donations made between the parties. This case similarly pronounces that the prohibition against a spouse to donate any absolute community property or conjugal partnership property without the consent of the other spouse equally applies to common-law relations or cohabitations of a man and a woman without a valid marriage or under a void marriage.

• 1. Nullification of the Renunciation and Waiver of Rights executed by Adelita Perez in favor of Eliodoro Perez; 2. Nullification of the Deed of Donation executed by the late Eliodoro Perez in favor of Nicxon L. Perez, Jr.; 3. Nullification of the Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-12547 in the name of Nicxon L. Perez, Jr.; 4. Cancellation by the Registry of Deeds of T.C.T. No. T-12547 in the name of Nicxon L. Perez, Jr.; and 5. Issuance of another title over the subject property in the name of Eliodoro Q. Perez and Adelita M. Perez.