FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Marriage
Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered
into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the
foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature,
consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except
that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the
limits provided by this Code. (52a)

No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are present:

(1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female; and

(2) Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer. (53a)

The formal requisites of marriage are:

(1) Authority of the solemnizing officer;

(2) A valid marriage license except in the cases provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; and

(3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance of the contracting parties
before the solemnizing officer and their personal declaration that they take each other as
husband and wife in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age. (53a, 55a)

The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab
initio, except as stated in Article 35 (2).

A defect in any of the essential requisites shall render the marriage voidable as
provided in Article 45.

An irregularity in the formal requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage but the
party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and
administratively liable

No prescribed form or religious rite for the solemnization of the marriage is required. It
shall be necessary, however, for the contracting parties to appear personally before the
solemnizing officer and declare in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal
age that they take each other as husband and wife. This declaration shall be contained
in the marriage certificate which shall be signed by the contracting parties and their
witnesses and attested by the solemnizing officer.
In case of a marriage in articulo mortis, when the party at the point of death is unable to
sign the marriage certificate, it shall be sufficient for one of the witnesses to the marriage
to write the name of said party, which fact shall be attested by the solemnizing officer.

Marriage may be solemnized by:

(1) Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the court’s jurisdiction;

(2) Any priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church or religious sect duly authorized by
his church or religious sect and registered with the civil registrar general, acting within the
limits of the written authority granted by his church or religious sect and provided that at
least one of the contracting parties belongs to the solemnizing officer’s church or religious
sect;

(3) Any ship captain or airplane chief only in the case mentioned in Article 31;

(4) Any military commander of a unit to which a chaplain is assigned, in the absence of
the latter, during a military operation, likewise only in the cases mentioned in Article 32;

(5) Any consul-general, consul or vice-consul in the case provided in Article 10.

A marriage license shall be issued by the local civil registrar of the city or municipality
where either contracting party habitually resides.

Marriages Exempted from License Requirement

In case either or both of the contracting parties are at the point of death, the marriage
may be solemnized without necessity of a marriage license and shall remain valid even
if the ailing party subsequently survives.

If the residence of either party is so located that there is no means of transportation to

enable such party to appear personally before the local civil registrar, the marriage may
be solemnized without necessity of a marriage license.

A marriage in articulo mortis between passengers or crew members may also be

solemnized by a ship captain or by an airplane pilot not only while the ship is at sea or
the plane is in flight, but also during stopovers at ports of call.

A military commander of a unit, who is a commissioned officer, shall likewise have

authority to solemnize marriages in articulo mortis between persons within the zone of
military operation, whether members of the armed forces or civilians.

Marriages among Muslims or among members of the ethnic cultural communities may
be performed validly without the necessity of marriage license, provided they are
solemnized in accordance with their customs, rites or practices.
No license shall be necessary for the marriage of a man and a woman who have lived
together as husband and wife for at least five years and without any legal impediment to
marry each other. The contracting parties shall state the foregoing facts in an affidavit
before any person authorized by law to administer oaths. The solemnizing officer shall
also state under oath that he ascertained the qualifications of the contracting parties are
found no legal impediment to the marriage.

Void Marriages

The following marriages shall be void from the beginning:

(1) Those contracted by any party below eighteen years of age even with the consent of
parents or guardians;

(2) Those solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages unless
such marriages were contracted with either or both parties believing in good faith that the
solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do so;

(3) Those solemnized without license, except those covered the preceding Chapter;

(4) Those bigamous or polygamous marriages not failing under Article 41;

(5) Those contracted through mistake of one contracting party as to the identity of the
other; and

(6) Those subsequent marriages that are void under Article 53.

A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was
psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage,
shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after its
solemnization. (As amended by Executive Order 227)

Marriages between the following are incestuous and void from the beginning, whether
relationship between the parties be legitimate or illegitimate:

(1) Between ascendants and descendants of any degree; and

(2) Between brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half blood. (81a)

The following marriages shall be void from the beginning for reasons of public policy:

(1) Between collateral blood relatives whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the fourth
civil degree;

(2) Between step-parents and step-children;

(3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law;

(4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;

(5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child;

(6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter;

(7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter;

(8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; and

(9) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed that other
person’s spouse, or his or her own spouse.

Voidable Marriages

A marriage may be annulled for any of the following causes, existing at the time of the
marriage:

(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage annulled was eighteen
years of age or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage was solemnized without the
consent of the parents, guardian or person having substitute parental authority over the
party, in that order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely
cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife;

(2) That either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to reason,
freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;

(3) That the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards,
with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife;

Any of the following circumstances shall constitute fraud referred to in Number 3 of the
preceding Article:

(a) Non-disclosure of a previous conviction by final judgment of the other party of

a crime involving moral turpitude;

(b) Concealment by the wife of the fact that at the time of the marriage, she was
pregnant by a man other than her husband;

(c) Concealment of sexually transmissible disease, regardless of its nature,

existing at the time of the marriage; or
 (d) Concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism or homosexuality or
lesbianism existing at the time of the marriage.

(4) That the consent of either party was obtained by force, intimidation or undue influence,
unless the same having disappeared or ceased, such party thereafter freely cohabited
with the other as husband and wife;

(5) That either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage with the
other, and such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable; or

(6) That either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease found to be
serious and appears to be incurable.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE:

LGUs are Territorial and Political Subdivisions (of 1 unit), Public

Corporations, Administrative Agencies and Public Offices

“Ours is still a unitary form of government, not a federal state.” LGUs no claim
against the State.

Not “Imperium in Imperio,” not Independent Sub- National Units

“Not impenetrable states”; under supervision of President and may be held

accountable; President has general supervision over provinces, HUCs, and
independent component cities

5 Levels/ Kinds:

a. Provinces – A political and territorial corporate body consisting of several

municipalities and cities.

b. Municipalities – Consist of groups of barangays, including municipal districts.

c. Cities – Consist of more urbanized and developed barangays.

i. Highly urbanized cities – Determined by law.
ii. Cities not raised to highly urbanized category but their charters

prohibit their voters from voting in provincial elections.

iii. Component cities – Still under the province in some way.

d. Barangays – Basic political and territorial self-governing body corporate and is

subordinate to the municipality or city of which it forms part.

e. Autonomous Regions – A political and territorial subdivision that has a certain

degree of freedom from the national government.

The Constitution confines the President‘s power over the LGUs to one of general
supervision. This provision has been interpreted to exclude the power of control.

KATARUNGANG PAMBARANGAY

All disputes are subject to Barangay conciliation pursuant to the Revised Katarungang
Pambarangay Law and prior recourse thereto is a pre-condition before filing a complaint
in court or any government offices, except in the following disputes:

1. Where one party is the government, or any subdivision or instrumentality

thereof;
2. Where one party is a public officer or employee, and the dispute relates
to the performance of his official functions;

3. Where the dispute involves real properties located in different cities and
municipalities, unless the parties thereto agree to submit their difference to
amicable settlement by an appropriate Lupon;

4. Any complaint by or against corporations, partnership or juridical entities,

since only individuals shall be parties to Barangay conciliation proceedings
either as complainants or respondents (Sec. 1, Rule VI, Katarungang
Pambarangay Rules);

5. Disputes involving parties who actually reside in barangays of different

cities or municipalities, except where such barangay units adjoin each other
and the parties thereto agree to submit their differences to amicable
settlement by an appropriate Lupon;

6. Offenses for which the law prescribes a maximum penalty of

imprisonment exceeding one (1) year or a fine over five thousand pesos
(P5,000.00);

7. Offenses where there is no private offended party;

8. Disputes where urgent legal action is necessary to prevent injustice from

being committed or further continued, specifically the following:

a. Criminal cases where accused is under police custody or

detention (see Sec. 412 (b) (1), Revised Katarungang
Pambarangay Law);

b. Petitions for habeas corpus by a person illegally deprived

of his rightful custody over another or a person illegally
deprived or on acting in his behalf;

c. Actions coupled with provisional remedies such as

preliminary injunction, attachment, delivery of personal
property and support during the pendency of the action; and

d. Actions which may be barred by the Statute of Limitations.

9. Any class of disputes which the President may determine in the interest
of justice or upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Justice;

10. Where the dispute arises from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law;
 11. Labor disputes or controversies arising from employer-employee
relations;

12. Actions to annul judgment upon a compromise which may be filed

directly in court.

Under the provisions of R.A. 7160 on Katarungang Pambarangay conciliation, as

implemented by the Katarungang Pambarangay Rules and Regulations promulgated by
the Secretary of Justice, the certification for filing a complaint in court or any government
office shall be issued by Barangay authorities only upon compliance with the following
requirements:

1. Issued by the Lupon Secretary and attested by the Lupon Chairman

(Punong Barangay), certifying that a confrontation of the parties has taken
place and that a conciliation settlement has been reached, but the same
has been subsequently repudiated;

2. Issued by the Pangkat Secretary and attested by the Pangkat Chairman,

certifying that:

a. a confrontation of the parties took place but no

conciliation/settlement has been reached or

b. that no personal confrontation took place before the

Pangkat through no fault of the complainant.

3. Issued by the Punong Barangay, as requested by the proper party on the

ground of failure of settlement where the dispute involves members of the
same indigenous cultural community, which shall be settled in accordance
with the customs and traditions of that particular cultural community, or
where one or more of the parties to the aforesaid dispute belong to the
minority and the parties mutually agreed to submit their dispute to the
indigenous system of amicable settlement, and there has been no
settlement as certified by the datu or tribal leader or elder to the Punong
Barangay of place of settlement; and

4. If mediation or conciliation efforts before the Punong Barangay proved

unsuccessful, there having been no agreement to arbitrate , or where the
respondent fails to appear at the mediation proceeding before the Punong
Barangay, the Punong Barangay shall not cause the issuance at this stage
of a certification to file action, because it is now mandatory for him to
constitute the Pangkat before whom mediation, conciliation, or arbitration
proceedings shall be held.