By Rey E. Requejo

The Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court?s decision annulling the marriage of Diether Ocampo and Kristine Hermosa, two popular cinema personalities.

The CA?s Second Division through Associate Justice Sesinando Villon ruled that the marriage held in 2004 in Nueva Ecija was null and void from the beginning.

The appellate court denied the appeal of the Office of the Solicitor General questioning the March 31, 2006 ruling of the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 136, that granted the annulment petition of Hermosa, Kristine Orille in real life, against her spouse, Ocampo, christened as Diether Pascual.

Hermosa initiated the proceedings but Ocampo refused to file any responsive pleading.

?We find the evidence on record sufficient to prove petitioner?s [Kristine] allegation that the marriage ceremony as stated in the Certificate of Marriage between her and respondent [Diether] which was supposed to have been celebrated on September 21, 2004 at Jaen, Nueva Ecija did not actually take place,? the CA ruled.

Associate Justices Portia Ali?o-Hormachuelos and Noel Tijam concurred with the ruling.

The ABS-CBN network talents had worked on movie projects and decided to tie the knot on July 14, 2004.

While there were pictures to show the two were wed by Jaen Mayor Antonio Esquivel and witnessed by Col. Eduardo Divina and his wife, Susan, they had no marriage license nor a signed marriage contract.

Instead, documents sent to the young couple later showed that their marriage license 0040528 was issued on Sept. 10, 2004. The date and time of the marriage was left blank and Sept. 21, 2004 was later inserted.

Hermosa rejected the marriage certificate and filed a petition for annulment, noting that on Sept. 21 that year they were busy with their showbiz schedules.

The appellate court ruled that the application for marriage license and the certificate of marriage, being official documents, were prima facie evidence but disputable and may be overcome by other evidence.

The CA said under the Family Code, absence of any of the formal requisites rendered the marriage void ab initio (from the start) and a defect in any of the essential requisites would result in a nullity.

?There being no showing of any reversible error committed by Branch 136 of the Regional Trial Court of Makati City in rendering the assailed March 31, 2006 decision and June 6, 2006 order in Civil case no. 05-522, the same is affirmed and upheld,? the CA ruled.