1.

Define 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 the Family Code. (Art. 1, E.O. 209).

2. Give the other distinctions why the marriage contract is a contract sui generis.
As to parties Marriage contract can be entered into only by one man and one woman, while ordinary contracts may be entered
into by any number of persons, whether of the same or different sex.
As to rights and In marriage contracts, the law fixes the duties and rights of the parties; while in ordinary contracts, the agreement of
obligations the parties have the force of law between them.
As to termination Marriage contracts cannot be terminated by mutual agreement of the parties, while ordinary contracts can be so
terminated.
As to breach In marriage contracts, breach of the obligations of a husband and wife does not give rise to an action for damages,
instead the law provides penal and civil sanctions such as prosecution for adultery or concubinage, and procedure
for legal separation, while in ordinary contracts, breach thereof gives rise to an action for damages.
As to effect Marriage contracts create a status, while ordinary contracts does not.

3. Zulueta v. CA
The Supreme Court held that the documents and papers in question are inadmissible in evidence. Privacy of communication and
correspondence under the constitution is inviolable and that the intimacies between the husband and wife do not justify any one of them in
breaking the drawers and cabinets of the other and in ransacking them for any telltale evidence of marital infidelity. A person, by contracting
marriage, does not shed his/her integrity or his right to privacy as an individual and the constitutional protection is ever available to him or to her.

The law insures absolute freedom of communication between the spouses by making it privileged. Neither husband nor wife may testify for
or against the other without the consent of the affected spouse while the marriage subsists. Neither may be examined without the consent of the
other as to any communication received in confidence by one from the other during the marriage, save for specified exceptions. But one thing is
freedom of communication; quite another is a compulsion for each one to share what one knows with the other. And this has nothing to do with
the duty of fidelity that each owes to the other.

4. What are the two aspects of marriage?

Procedure – Marriage is a procedure by which a man and a woman become husband and wife.
Status – It is a status involving duties and responsibilities which are no longer matters for private private regulations but the concern of the
State.

5. What are the requisites for a marriage to be valid?

No marriage shall be valid, unless these requisites are present:
ESSENTIAL FORMAL
a. Legal capacity of the a. Authority of the solemnizing officer;
contracting parties who b. A valid marriage license except in the cases provided for in Chapter 2 of this
must be a male and a Title (instances where marriage license is not required); and
female; and c. A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance of the
b. Consent freely given in the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and their personal
presence of the declaration that they take each other as husband and wife in the presence of
solemnizing officer. not less than two witnesses of legal age.

6. What are those grounds under Article 37 and Article 38?

Article 37 and 38 speaks of void marriages.

Article 37 states that marriages between the following are incestuous and void from the beginning whether the relationship between the parties be
legitimate or illegitimate:
a. Between ascendants and descendats of any degree; and
b. Between brothers and sisters, whether of full or half blood.

Article 38 enumerates marriages that are void from the beginning for reasons of public policy:
(a) Between collateral blood relatives, whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the fourth civil degree;
(b) Between step-parents and step-children;
(c) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law;
(d) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(e) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(f) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter;
(g) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter;
(h) Between the adopted children of the same adopter;
(i) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, kiled the other person’s spouse or his or her own spouse.
 7. Who are the solemnizing officers under the law? If they solemnize without authority what is the status of the marriage?
A. Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the court’s jurisdiction. Justices of the collegiate courts (Court of Tax Appeals,
Sandiganbayan, Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court) may solemnize marriages anywhere in the Philippines (National
jurisdiction) [SC AO NO. 125-2007] ;
B. 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 him 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;
C. Any ship captain or airplane chief but only in articulo mortis cases;
D. Any military commander.
Requisites:
a. Must be a commissioned officer
b. The parties must be within the zone of military operation, whether as members of the armed forces or as civilians.
c. Either of the parties is in articulo mortis
E. Any consul-general, consul or vice-consul.
Requisites:
a. S/He can only solemnize marriages in the country where S/he is assigned.
b. The marriage must be between Filipino citizens.

8. When can a military commander solemnize a marriage?

A military commander may solemnize a marriage if the following requisites are present:
a. S/he must be a commissioned officer;
b. The parties must be within the zone of military operation, whether as members of the armed forces or as civilians; and
c. Either of the parties is in articulo mortis

9. What is the effectivity date of a marriage license?

The license shall be valid in any part of the Philippines for a period of one hundred twenty days from the date of issue, and shall be deemed
automatically cancelled at the expiration of the said period if the contracting parties have not made use of it.

10. Can a judge question the validity of a marriage license?

The solemnizing officer is not duty bound to investigate whether or not a marriage license has been duly and regularly issued by the local civil
registrar. All the solemnizing officer needs to know is that the license has been issued by the competent official, and it may be presumed from the
issuance of the license that said official has fulfilled the duty to ascertain whether the contracting parties had fulfilled the requirements of law
(People v. Janssen, 54 Phil. 176).

11. Can a judge notarize the affidavit of cohabitation and solemnize the marriage of the parties?
Based on law and the Guidelines on the Solemnization of Marriage by the Members of the Judiciary, the person who notarizes the contracting
parties’ affidavit of cohabitation cannot be the judge who will solemnize the parties’ marriage.

As a solemnizing officer, the judge’s only duty involving the affidavit of cohabitation is to examine whether the parties have indeed lived
together for at least five years without legal impediment to marry. The Guidelines does not state that the judge can notarize the parties’ affidavit
of cohabitation.

Thus, affidavits of cohabitation are documents not connected with the judge’s official function and duty to solemnize marriages. Notarizing
affidavits of cohabitation is inconsistent with the duty to examine the parties’ requirements for marriage. If the solemnizing officer notarized the
affidavit of cohabitation, he cannot objectively examine and review the affidavit’s statements before performing the marriage ceremony. Should
there be any irregularity or false statements in the affidavit of cohabitation he notarized, he cannot be expected to admit that he solemnized the
marriage despite the irregularity or false allegation.

12. Rule that reiterates lex loci celebrationis in the Family Code
The rule is “if valid where celebrated, it is also valid here”. This is the doctrine of lex loci celebrationis, the law of the place of celebration.
The exceptions are:
A. Those prohibited under Article 35 (1, 4, 5, and 6):
a. Paragraph 1. Lack of legal capacity even with parental consent.
b. Paragraph 4. Bigamous or polygamous except as provided in Art. 41 of the Family Code on terminable bigamous marriages.

c. Paragraph 5. Contracted through mistake of one of the party as to the identity of the other.
d. Paragraph 6. Contracted following the annulment or declaration of nullity of a previous marriage but before partition, etc. (see Article 53).
B. Incestuous (see Article 37);
C. Void through psychological incapacity (see Article 36); and
D. Void for reasons of public policy (see Article 38).
13. Requisites of Article 26(2)
14. Reckoning point of classifying it as a mixed marriage
15. Who has legal capacity to file a recognition of divorce decree in the Philippines?
16. Republic v. Silverio
17. Is proxy marriages allowed in the Philippines?
18. What is the form prescribed in a marriage ceremony?
19. Is the venue material for purposes of a formal requisite of marriage?
20. Reason for the void marriage to be declared void.