The first marriage involved Gil Ramos Medina and Virginia Bonifacio Medina, both Philippine citizens, who married in the Philippine Consulate in Saipan. The high court upheld the Superior Court’s decision invalidating the first marriage because the mandatory CNMI marriage requirements were not met. The high court also affirmed the validation of the second marriage solemnized in Chuuk, and involving Medina and Antonia Reyes Medina, a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia. in “Re Marriage of Antonia Reyes Medina and Gil Ramos Medina v. Virginia Bonifacio Medina, 2019 MP 14.”
The case started when Medina passed away in 2017. The day before the funeral viewing and cremation in Saipan, a representative from the Philippine Consulate informed Reyes of Medina’s purported 1993 marriage to Bonifacio. The representative asserted Bonifacio’s desire to repatriate the remains to the Philippines for burial because Bonifacio has rightful claim to them. Reyes petitioned the trial court seeking a declaration that she, not Bonifacio, was the lawful wife of Medina. The trial court found in favor of the second marriage for two reasons. First, the first marriage did not follow the mandatory marriage requirements in CNMI law; the couple did not file an application for a marriage license, the marriage was not performed by an authorized official, and no marriage license was ever recorded. Second, Medina spent most of his life in the CNMI with Reyes, while Bonifacio spent her life in the Philippines. He worked, filed taxes, and received humanitarian parole in the CNMI.
The high court’s full opinion is available at http://cnmilaw.org/pdf/supreme/2019-MP-14.pdf
