Short answer. Only if the sentence is more than six years and the judgment is final. The Family Code makes that a ground for legal separation, and adds that it holds even if the respondent was later pardoned. A shorter sentence, or a case still on appeal, does not qualify.
What the law says
(4) Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if pardoned;
Family Code, Article 55 — Grounds for Legal Separation. Read the full provision →
Three conditions in one short clause
The ground is Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if pardoned. Take it in pieces. There must be a judgment, so an arrest, a charge or a case still being tried is not enough. It must be final, so a conviction under appeal has not yet given you this ground. And the penalty imposed must exceed six years — the length in the judgment, not the time actually served. Fail any one of the three and the clause does not apply, however serious the offence was.
The offence itself does not matter
Unusually, the clause says nothing about what the crime was or whether it had anything to do with the marriage. It looks only at the sentence. A spouse convicted of a purely commercial offence is within the ground on the same terms as one convicted of violence, provided the penalty passes the threshold. The measure the law has chosen is the gravity the criminal court attached to the conduct, and it does not ask the family court to weigh the offence again.
Why “even if pardoned” is there
Those three words prevent an argument that would otherwise be made. A pardon may release your spouse and remove the consequences of the conviction, but it does not remove your ground; the judgment that was rendered is what the clause fixes on. The same reasoning explains why release on parole, or a sentence long since served, changes nothing here. What the article does not suspend is the ordinary requirement that a petition be brought in time, so a conviction from many years ago needs checking against prescription.
Get the judgment and the entry of judgment
Everything on this ground is documentary, which makes it one of the more straightforward to establish. What you need is a certified copy of the decision showing the penalty imposed, and proof that it became final. Both come from the court that decided the case, and a pardon or release paper does not substitute for either. Bear in mind too that legal separation leaves the marriage in existence — it addresses living arrangements and property, and neither spouse becomes free to marry again.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Aiko Yokogawa-Tan vs. Jonnell Tan and the Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 254646, October 23, 2023 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Maria Vicia Carullo-Padua vs. Joselito Padua, G.R. No. 208258, April 27, 2022 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Arabelle J. Mendoza vs. Republic of the Philippines, et al, G.R. No. 157649, November 12, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Lucita Estrella Hernandez vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 126010, December 8,1999 — read the decision on LawPhil →