Answer the following questions:

1. What is marriage?

Article 1 of the Family Code stated that 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. 

2. Distinguish marriage from an ordinary contract.

- Pursuant to the provision of the Family Code, In Marriage the contracting parties must only be two
persons, one is a female and the other is male, it is also a permanent union of two persons, it is governed
by law on marriage and not subject to stipulations except in property relations additionally it can only be
dissolved by death or annulment and not by mutual agreement unlike in an ordinary contract. In Ordinary
contract, the contracting parties can be two or more regardless of gender, and the parties can fix a period
for its efficacy to be ineffective furthermore it can be dissolved by mutual agreement and by other legal
causes.

3. What are the essential requisites of marriage, and briefly explain each?

The essential requisite of marriage pursuant to the Article 2 of the Family Code is Legal capacity of the
contracting parties who must be a male and a female. In which the marrying age is 18 years old and
above and contracting parties must not be related to each other in the manner provided for in Article 37
of the Family Code declaring the incestuous marriages and Article 38 of the Family Code declaring the void
marriages for reason of public policy. The contracting parties in marriage must be one is a female and the
other is man. Additionally, In the case of Silverio V. Repulic, The sex can be determined by visually looking
at the genitals of a baby at the time of birth is immutable and that there is no law legally recognizing
gender sex re-assignment. Another essential requisite is consent freely given in the presence of the
solemnizing officer in whom it should be freely given where the two persons willingly and deliberately
entered into the marriage and intelligently understands the nature and consequences of the act and lastly
should be made in the presence of the solemnizing officer.

4. What are the formal requisites of marriage and briefly explain each?

 According to Article 3 of the Family Code there are three formal requisite of marriage, First
authority of the solemnizing officer where all the where the presence or absence of the
solemnizing officer which constitutes the formal requirement but it is the absence or presence of
the authority of such solemnizing officer. Persons authorized are provided in the Article 7 of the
Family Code and Chapter 3, Article 1 of the Local Government Code authorizes the mayor of a city
or municipality. Second, a valid marriage license except in cases provided for in Chapter 2 of this
Title where it is issued by the Local City Registrar of the place where the marriage application was
filed and has a lifespan of 120 days from the date of issue and is effective in any part of the
 Philippines. Lastly, Marriage ceremony with the presence 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 2 witnesses of legal age. In the case of Gaines V New Orleans stated
that in where a marriage ceremony is shown, every presumption will be indulged that it was legally
performed. An Absence of at least 2 witnesses of legal age does not invalidate the marriage but it
can be validly explained that while there were no witnesses of legal age or there was only one
witness of legal age or there were witnesses but not of legal age, there was still a marriage
ceremony that was performed where the principal contracting parties and the solemnizing officer
were present but only that it was deficient by the absence of the required witnesses of legal age.

5. What marriages are exempt from marriage license requirement?

According to the Family Code these instances are exempted to requirement of a marriage license, First,
Articulo mortis where 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. Second, Remote places in where 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 additionally
the duty of the solemnizing officer in which ascertain the cases provided for in the two preceding
instances, the solemnizing officer shall state in an affidavit executed before the local civil registrar or any
other person legally authorized to administer oaths that the marriage was performed in articulo mortis or
that the residence of either party, specifying the barrio or barangay, is so located that there is no means
of transportation to enable such party to appear personally before the local civil registrar and that the
officer took the necessary steps to ascertain the ages and relationship of the contracting parties and the
absence oflegal impediment to the marriage. Third, Muslim or ethnic groups in which the 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. Lastly, the 5-year live-in without impediment 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

6. Who are the authorized solemnizing officers under the Family Code, and what are instance/s or
requisites for their exercise of authority?

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.

9. What is the status of marriage:

a. in the absence of an essential requisite? – VOID Absence of any of the essential or formal requirements
of a marriage renders such marriage null and void.

b. In the absence of a formal requisite? – VOID Absence of any of the essential or formal requirements of
a marriage renders such marriage null and void.

c. When there is a defect in the formal requisite? - Irregularities in the formal requisites do not affect the
validity of the marriage. § Except when the contracting parties 18 years or over but below 21 did not
obtain the consent of their parents a s provided for in Art. 14.

10. Requisites when a divorce decree obtained abroad can be legally recognized in the
Philippines relative to the civil status of a married Filipino citizen?

Absolute divorce is not recognized in the Philippines, thus any divorce initiated by a Filipino, even those
abroad, is against public policy and will not be recognized in the Philippines. The exception had been
provided in the Article 26 of the Family Code where foreigner who procured the divorce should be a
foreigner at the time of the divorce, not at the time of the marriage ceremony. When both parties were
Filipinos at the time of the marriage ceremony, but at the time of the divorce, the petitioner was already a
citizen of a foreign country that allows absolute divorce. Art. 26 paragraph 2 applies to The Filipino who
did not initiate the divorce should still be a Filipino at the time of the divorce for Article 26 to be
applicable. Otherwise, recognition in the Philippines is pursuant to the nationality principle in which a
Filipino obtains a foreign absolute divorce, such will not be recognized in the Philippines as to the Filipino
spouse, but as to the foreigner spouse, he/she is considered divorced. Hence, the latter cannot, for
example, claim interest in the property of the Filipino spouse after the divorce.

But in the case of Republic of the Philippines v. Manalo, where Manalo filed for and was granted divorce
in Japan in 2011. Manalo went to court in Dagupan in the Philippines to have her divorce recognized here.
The trial court in Dagupan denied her petition. She then went to the Court of Appeals (CA), where she
scored a victory in 2014. The CA ruled that Manalo should have the right to remarry. It applied the
amended Article 26(2) of the Family Code. Former president Corazon Aquino issued an executive order
that amended the provision so that it included this:

Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is
thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino
spouse shall likewise have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.
With this ruling, the state now recognizes the divorce obtained by the Filipino, and couples of the same
circumstances of mixed-marriage will be considered not married to each other under Philippine law. It
opens up a window for Filipinos married to foreigners to get divorce in a predominantly Catholic country
that is still ambivalent towards divorce.