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: YES. Condonation is the forgiveness of a marital offense constituting a ground for legal separation.
The
New Civil Code of the Philippines, in its Art. 97, says:
A petition for legal separation may be filed:
(1) For adultery on the part of the wife and concubinage on the part of the husband as defined on
the Penal Code.
and in its Art. 100 it says:
The legal separation may be claimed only by the innocent spouse, provided there has been no
condonation of or consent to the adultery or concubinage. Where both spouses are offenders, legal
separation cannot be claimed by either of them. Collusion between the parties to obtain legal separation
shall cause the dismissal of the petition.
We have to consider plaintiff's line of conduct under the assumption that he really believed his wife
guilty of adultery. What did he do in such state of mind. In August, 1952, he went to Pangasinan and
looked for his wife and after finding her they lived together as husband and wife for 2 nights and 1 day,
after which he says that he tried to verify from her the truth of the news he had about her infidelity, but
failed to attain his purpose because his wife, instead of answering his query on the matter, preferred to
desert him, probably enraged for being subjected to such humiliation. And yet he tried to locate her,
though in vain. Now, do the husband's attitude of sleeping with his wife for 2 nights despite his alleged
belief that she was unfaithful to him, amount to a condonation of her previous and supposed adulterous
acts?
A detailed examination of the testimony of the plaintiff-husband, clearly shows that there was a
condonation on the part of the husband for the supposed "acts of rank infidelity amounting to adultery"
committed by defendant-wife. Admitting for the sake of argument that the infidelities amounting to
adultery were committed by the defendant, a reconciliation was effected between her and the plaintiff.
The act of the latter in persuading her to come along with him, and the fact that she went with him and
consented to be brought to the house of his cousin Pedro Bugayong and together they slept there as
husband and wife for one day and one night, and the further fact that in the second night they again
slept together in their house likewise as husband and wife — all these facts have no other meaning in
the opinion of this court than that a reconciliation between them was effected and that there was a
condonation of the wife by the husband. The reconciliation occurred almost ten months after he came to
know of the acts of infidelity amounting to adultery.
In Shackleton vs. Shackleton, it has been held that "condonation is implied from sexual intercourse after
knowledge of the other infidelity. such acts necessary implied forgiveness. It is entirely consonant with
reason and justice that if the wife freely consents to sexual intercourse after she has full knowledge of
the husband's guilt, her consent should operate as a pardon of his wrong."
It has been held in a long line of decisions of the various supreme courts of the different states of the U.
S. that 'a single voluntary act of sexual intercourse by the innocent spouse after discovery of the offense
is ordinarily sufficient to constitute condonation, especially as against the husband'.
Although no acts of infidelity might have been committed by the wife, We agree with the trial judge that
the conduct of the plaintiff-husband above narrated despite his belief that his wife was unfaithful,
deprives him, as alleged the offended spouse, of any action for legal separation against the offending
wife, because his said conduct comes within the restriction of Article 100 of the Civil Code.
The only general rule in American jurisprudence is that any cohabitation with the guilty party, after the
commission of the offense, and with the knowledge or belief on the part of the injured party of its
commission, will amount to conclusive evidence of condonation; but this presumption may be rebutted
by evidence.
If there had been cohabitation, to what extent must it be to constitute condonation? Single voluntary act
of marital intercourse between the parties ordinarily is sufficient to constitute condonation, and where
the parties live in the same house, it is presumed that they live on terms of matrimonial cohabitation
There is no ruling on this matter in our jurisprudence but we have no reason to depart from the
doctrines laid down in the decisions of the various supreme courts of the United States.

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: YES. Condonation is the forgiveness of a marital offense constituting a ground for legal separation.

A petition for legal separation may be filed:

and in its Art. 100 it says:

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