EARNEST EFFORTS TOWARDS A COMPROMISE NOT REQUIRED

Article 151 of the Family code must be construed strictly, it being an exception to the general rule. Hence, a sister-in-law or brother-in-law is not included in the enumeration [Gayon v. Gayon, 36 SCRA 104; emphasis supplied]. In the afore-cited case of Martinez vs. Martinez involving a husband and wife as complainants and the husband’s brother as defendant, it was held that complainants were not required to comply with Article 151 of the Family Code because of the inclusion and presence of the wife as one of the plaintiffs in the MTC. The court said that the wife is not a member of the same family as that of her husband and the respondent brother-in-law.

Hence, once a stranger becomes a party to a suit involving members of the same family, the law no longer makes it a condition precedent that earnest efforts be made towards a compromise before the action can prosper. Thus, Article 151 of the Family Code applies to cover when the suit is exclusively between or among family members [ Hiyas Savings and Loans Banks, Inc. vs. Hon. Edmundo T. Acuña, August 31, 2006].