MANILA, Philippines - The camps of Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo's partner Grace Ibuna and his wife Aleli Arroyo have agreed on funeral arrangements for the late congressman.  Ibuna has agreed to allow the body to remain in Aleli's custody for two days.

The U.K. court today ordered Aleli, who lost the custody case in London, to pay all the legal fees of the U.K. proceedings incurred by the Ibuna camp as well as funeral costs for Iggy Arroyo which is estimated to reach 94,000 pounds or P6 million.

Solicitor Aileen Barry said, both Ibuna and the Arroyo sisters said they were pleased that the court battle had come to an end. But Justice Peter Smith admitted the decision could be an empty order as the U.K. court has no jurisdiction to enforce the order in the Philippines where Aleli resides.   

"It was Grace Ibuna who filed the case, so any damage suffered by the funeral parlor should be borne by Grace Ibuna," said Aleli's counsel Lorna Kapunan said on ANC's Headstart.  "We will certainly not obey a U.K. court. It will set a bad precedent for all of us here in the Philippines who still respect Philippine Law."

"We question the validity of the last will based on: was Iggy in his full senses, was he acting under full control of Grace Ibuna who changed his cellphone numbers so we could not get in touch with him," Kapunan added.

With battle for custody over Iggy's remains seemingly over for now, another legal battle looms, this time over his last will and testament, while another contentious issue has surfaced: that of questions over the validity of Iggy's marriage to Aleli.

Question of marital status

Ibuna's counsel, Leonard de Vera, claimed Aleli is not the legal wife of the late lawmaker, adding Aleli created her own problems when she sought authority to dispose of Iggy's remains before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (Q.C. RTC), prompting Ibuna's camp to question Aleli's status as Iggy's wife.

"She might very well be what she accuses Miss Ibuna to be. But she's not the legal wife and we've presented the evidence in court," de Vera said.
    
While the annulment of Iggy's marriage to his first wife Marilyn Jacinto in the 1980s was valid, De Vera said, it was never registered in Quezon City where they were married, or in Pampanga where the annulment case was filed, as required by law. Referring to a provision in the Philippine Family Code (Arts. 52 and 53), de Vera said, since the annulment was not registered in the appropriate civil registrar, and there was no certificate of finality, that marriage is considered null and void.

"In this case, it was never registered in Quezon City because there was no certificate of finality which is a requirement before any registration can be made. It was not registered in Pampanga where the court issued the order," he said.

"...Article 53 of the Family Code says, the parties after having been annulled by a court order may remarry but if there is no registration, their marriage is null and void from the very beginning."
if there is no registration, the marriage is null and void from the very beginning."

(Art. 52, Family Code: "The judgment of annulment or of absolute nullity of the marriage, the partition and distribution of the properties of the spouses, and the delivery of the children's presumptive legitimes shall be recorded in the appropriate civil registry and registries of property; otherwise, the same shall not affect third persons.")
    
(Art. 53,  "Either of the former spouses may marry again after complying with the requirements of the immediately preceding Article; otherwise, the subsequent marriage shall be null and void.")
    
Aleli's lawyer Lorna Kapunan, however, insisted that Aleli's marriage to Iggy is valid.
    
"Any person who claims the marriage is null and void should present the claim in court, even si Congressman Iggy, hindi naman yan ang finile niya sa court, if he believed the marriage is null and void, bakit siya nag-file ng Article 36 declaration of nullity of marriage.  It presumes there is a valid marriage," she said.
    
But family code expert Attorney Claire Castro said, based on the records, Aleli can still be considered Iggy's legitimate wife.

Last will and testament

De Vera said, although Aleli's camp cites Article 307 and the supercedence of the wife over children to decide funeral arrangements, under the law, the expressed wishes of the deceased is paramount, over and above the right of the spouse.

"Even in Philippine Law, Article 307 says, over and above the right of the spouse to make funeral arrangements and dispose of the remains, paramount, and over and above the right of the spouse, is the owner of the body himself, Iggy himself. Article 307 clearly states the funeral should be in accordance with the express wishes of the deceased. And Iggy Arroyo has expressed this in three notarized documents," De Vera explained.

De Vera noted, in Iggy's last will and testament executed in Los Angeles, California,  he clearly indicated that Aleli should have nothing to do with his body. He added, the document was authenticated by the Philippine Embassy in the United States.

"He said never ever give my body to Aleli.  In the written authority given to dispose of his remains only to give his body to Grace Ibuna and Bernardina Arroyo-Tantaco, he completely excluded Aleli," de Vera said. Arroyo-Tantoco is Iggy's daughter with his first wife, Marilyn.

Aleli's camp had also been furnished the document, to which they filed a protest, prompting Ibuna to take the matter before the U.K. court.
    
De Vera said, in the last six years, Iggy never gave Aleli instructions on how to dispose of his remains, and only remembered that 13 years ago, Iggy indicated his desire to be buried in the same mausoleum as his mother.

Amid the alleged misinformation Aleli is spreading against his client, De Vera clarified, Ibuna never ordered the cremation of Iggy's remains, and neither did she order the unplugging of Iggy's life support.  De Vera said the lawmaker had a cardiac arrest as he arrived in the hospital, before finally succumbing to multiple organ failure in the intensive care unit.
    
"Miss Ibuna never signed any document in the hospital claiming she's the wife. It was Iggy Arroyo himself who placed the name of Miss Ibuna (as next of kin in hospital records)."
    
De Vera also questioned Aleli's sudden interest in claiming Iggy's body and the right to make funeral arrangements as his legal wife, when she did not want to have anything to do with him in in the past 6 years. He explained:

"Why is it that she didn't want him near her for six years, and limited the right of visitation to their only child, the house he built, he couldn't even enter and then suddenly when he died, `I want his body'?
     
"Aleli and Iggy Arroyo have been locked in very bitter court entanglements. As early as 2004 or 2005, Miss Aleli obtained a court order barring and prohibiting Iggy from entering his own house which he built... He could not come within a certain radius anywhere near the person Aleli, the right to see his own child with Aleli, Alelu, was limited to twice a week or twice a month. For six years from the time the order was made, and from the time Aleli admitted they were physically separated from bed and board, and when she learned that Iggy's health was deteriorating, all she said was 'I'm sorry.'
    
"The issue before the court now is not the properties, the issue before the RTC court is the remains. When the time comes on the property disposition, that will be addressed. If she's not the wife, the will disinherits her, she's not entitled, that's how bitter the relationship is. He doesn't want to end up with her and now they're seeking to have his body, this is the ultimate insult to the dead,"

Inheritance

With regard to succession, under the Family Code and Civil Code, Castro said, all compulsory heirs--the wife or children-- should inherit. She added, with regard to inheritance, the Philippine Law is binding because they are both Filipino citizens, and considered married until their marriage is considered null and void by the court.
    
"If there is no disinheritance, the Philippine Law should still prevail, they should fight for it, get half of it unless the heirs say the marriage is not legal," Castro said. "The legitime of a compulsory air including the wife, the children should not be deprived according to the law unless there is disinheritance."
    
Castro, however, said, if Aleli's marriage is proven to be void, she will not be entitled to any share of Iggy's estate. While the the local registrar of Quezon City has testified that the decision on the nullity of the first marriage was not recorded which will make Aleli and Iggy's marriage null and void, she noted the court has yet to declare this so.

Castro added, it's up to Ibuna's camp to move to declare the that marriage null and void.
    
"In order for the marriage of Aleli and Iggy to be nullified, the heirs should file a petition to declare it null and void ... It will definitely affect Aleli's right to inherit if she will not be recognized as a legal wife because of Article 53... she could not get even a single cent from the estate of Iggy Arroyo," Castro said.
    
"Since it's not considered valid, all the rights of Aleli will be put in issue." -- with a report from  Rose Eclarinal, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau