Marriage in the Philippines, 2017

Reference Number: 
2018-146
Release Date: 
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Explanatory Notes
 Data on marriages presented here were obtained from the Certificates of Marriage (Municipal Form
No. 97) that were registered at the Office of the City/Municipal Civil Registrars all throughout the
country and forwarded to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Information presented includes
registered marriages which occurred from January to December 2017 and received at the Civil
Registration Service until 31 March 2018. Figures presented are not adjusted for under registration.
Marriages of Filipinos abroad which were reported to the Philippine Foreign Service Posts are
presented in a separate report.

Increasing number of marriages

In 2017, the total number of marriages recorded was 434,932, an increase

of 3.6 percent from 419,628 marriages in 2016. The number of registered
marriages showed an erratic trend from 2008 to 2017, with noticeable
varying of figures in 2012 to 2013. (See Figure 1 and Table 1)

The decrease in marriages in a span of 10 years changed from 14.4

percent for 2007 to 2016 to 10.6 percent for 2008 to 2017 after an increase
of 15,304 marriages in the annual count. (See Table 1)

Highest number of marriages in CALABARZON

In 2017, Region IV-A recorded the highest number of registered marriages,

which accounted for 13.4 percent of the total marriages. It was followed by
the National Capital Region (NCR) (12.8%) and Region III (11.7%). These
regions were consistently in the top three for the past seven years. (See
Figure 1 and Table 1)
Fourteen regions with positive percent change

Fourteen out of seventeen regions showed a positive percent change from

2016 to 2017. The top three regions with positive percent change found in
Mindanao area. The highest increase was observed in ARMM with 43.3
percent, followed by SOCCSKSARGEN and Northern Mindanao with 11.8
percent and 9.6 percent, respectively.

Among the three regions with negative percent change, Zamboanga

Peninsula had the highest decrease of 12.1 percent. The other two regions
were Cagayan Valley and Caraga with 5.9 percent and 4.9 percent decrease,
respectively from 2016 to 2017. (See Figure 2 and Table 2)

Most number of couples married in May

Women married younger than men One-third of the total number of

marriages in 2017 was recorded in the months of May (11.6%), December
(11.5%) and February (10.4%), where each month having more than 10.0
percent of the total marriages. The month of November was the least liked
month for marriage, recording the lowest at 5.0 percent. (See Table 3)

Women married younger than men

The median age of women that got married in 2017 was two years lower
than the median age of their male counterparts. It was observed that the
median age for men and women went up a single year from last year. (See
Figure 3)

Most brides and grooms married between ages 25-29 years old

About one third of the brides and the grooms married between ages 25-29
years old, where grooms with 157,407 or 36.2 percent of the total marriages
and brides with 148,618 or 34.2 percent.

It was also observed that there are four teenage brides (32,404) for every
one teenage groom (7,609) for marriages involving teenagers. (See Figure 4
and Table 4)

Filipino brides and grooms also marry other nationalities

There were 419,675 marriages (96.5%) between Filipino grooms and Filipino
brides while 15,257 (3.5%) involved foreign nationals.

Among foreign nationals, the highest frequency of intermarriages involved

Filipino grooms and Australians (298) followed by Chinese (273), Americans
(162), Canadians (135) and Japanese (123) Japanese brides.

On the other hand, the highest number of intermarriages involved Filipino

brides and American grooms (3,168), followed by Japanese (1,490). (See
Table 6)

Four out of ten marriages contracted through civil rites

There were 1,192 marriages solemnized daily through different types of

ceremony.

Of the total marriages in 2017, 40.1 percent were contracted through civil

ceremony. Others were either officiated in Roman Catholic Church (38.2%),
or performed in Muslim tradition (1.5%) or tribal ceremony (0.6%) and other
religious rites (19.6%). (See Table 3 and Figure 5)

It could be noted that more brides and grooms aged 25-29 years old
preferred to be solemnized in the Roman Catholic Church than any other
types of marriage ceremony. (See Tables 5a and 5b)

https://psa.gov.ph/tags/marriage-statistics

 The rise of divorce, separation, and cohabitation in the

Philippines
JEOFREY B. ABALOS
 “What God has put together let no man put asunder”. This biblical quote is frequently
heard among Filipinos, particularly among the older generations, to discourage young
people from leaving an unsatisfactory marriage. The indissolubility of marriage is also
strongly advocated by the Catholic Church, to which 80% of Filipinos belong.
Philippines: the only country in the world where divorce is not legal
The Church’s strong opposition to divorce is probably the main reason why the
Philippines is the only country in the world, together with the Vatican, where divorce is
not legal. Except for Filipinos who are married to foreigners and seek divorce in another
country, and for Muslim Filipinos who are governed by different marriage laws¹, about
95% of Filipinos need to file a nullity of marriage or an annulment² to legally terminate
their marriage. However, only a small fraction resort to these remedies because, while the
outcome is uncertain, costs are high (usually not less than three months of average labour
earnings, and sometimes much more) and the legal procedures are long and complex.
Completing a matrimonial dissolution case typically takes between six and eighteen
months but the procedure can also extend over several years (Lopez, 2006).

Most Filipinos who wish to end their marriage resort to informal separation. Ideally,
couples need to apply for a legal separation that provides them with legal sanction to live
separately, but in reality most couples, especially the poor, just live separately without
going through this legal procedure. Although most Filipinos still value marriage, the
proportion who separate from their spouse, both legally and informally, is increasing.
Figure 1 shows that the numbers of annulment and nullity cases filed at the Office of the
Solicitor-General (OSG) has increased from 4,520 in 2001 to 11,135 in 2014. Census and

survey data also show a similar trend.

On the likely causes of the rise of divorce and separation in the
Philippines
The increase in union dissolution has been accompanied by a parallel increase in the
proportion of Filipinos who live together with their partner without marrying. In the past
two decades, the proportion of cohabiting Filipino women of reproductive age almost
trebled, from 5.2% in 1993 to 14.5% in 2013 (Abalos 2014; PSA and ICF 2014). As
cohabitation has much higher dissolution rates than formal marriage (Figure 3), the rise in
cohabitation will likely lead to an increase in the proportion of Filipinos who are
separated³. The rise in cohabitation may also be attributable to the country’s “marriage
crisis”: cohabitation may be preferable to marriage precisely because it is relatively easier
and cheaper to end.

While most Filipinos still hold conservative views about marriage and divorce, a growing
segment of the population is becoming more receptive to the idea of divorce. Figure 2
shows that over the last decade the proportion of Filipinos who agreed that “Married
couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to
divorce so that they can legally marry again” increased from 43% in 2005 to 60% in

2014.  This growing acceptance of divorce

may have contributed to reducing the stigma of being divorced or separated, particularly
among women, who were, and still are, expected to make all possible efforts to keep their
marriage intact.
The increasing exposure of Filipinos to the urban environment (42.4% were city dwellers
in 2007 and 45.3% in 2010) has probably contributed to this growing liberal attitude
towards divorce. Urbanization is commonly associated with non-traditional lifestyles and
behaviors, and reduces the influence of the extended family on the decisions of young
people, including mate selection. This means that children do not feel obliged (by their
parents’ choice) to stay in a marriage when it has become unbearable. This constitutes a
break from a still recent past when parents and other family members exerted strong
pressure on couples to keep their marriage intact in order to strengthen family bonds and
protect the family’s reputation.

Which women are most likely to dissolve their union?

Figure 3 shows the odds ratio or the relative probability of being divorced and separated
among Filipino women, controlling for different

factors.  Highly educated Filipino women have

higher odds of dissolving their union than women with lower levels of education. Higher
education in the Philippines improves the economic status of women and is more likely to
provide them with financial independence. Indeed, a key factor for Filipino women when
they leave their husband is their ability to support themselves and their children. This
sense of independence and empowerment also enables women to transcend the social
stigma of being divorced or separated.
Filipino women who grew up in urban areas are also more predisposed to union
dissolution than women who were raised in rural settings. The traditional values and
ideals instilled among women in rural areas and familial pressure to keep the marriage
intact for the sake of their family’s reputation (Medina 2015) may also have contributed
to the lower likelihood of union dissolution among women who were reared in rural
areas.

Will the Philippines finally join the rest of the world in legalizing
divorce?
As cohabitation becomes more common and as more Filipinos come to embrace more
unconventional views toward marriage and divorce, the increase in union dissolution in
the Philippines is unlikely to slow down in the coming years. The continued expansion of
educational opportunities for women and the growing mobility of young people to urban
areas will also contribute towards the steady increase in union breakdowns among
Filipinos. With the recent change in leadership in the Philippines, the political
atmosphere has also become more open to laws opposed by the Catholic Church, as
evidenced by the strong support for the revival of the death penalty. Despite this, the
Catholic Church remains a force to be reckoned with in terms of divorce legislation in the
Philippines.

References
Abalos, J.B. (2014). Trends and determinants of age at union of men and women in the
Philippines. Journal of Family Issues 35(12): 1624‒1641.
Abalos, J.B. (2017). Divorce and separation in the Philippines: Trends and correlates.
Demographic Research 36 (50): 1515-1548. doi: 10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.50.

Fenix-Villavicencio, V. and David, R.J. (2000). Our right to self-determination:

PILIPINA’s position on the issues of divorce and abortion. Quezon City:PILIPINA.

Gloria, C.K. (2007). Who needs divorce in the Philippines? Mindanao Law Journal 1:
18‒28.
Lopez, J. (2006). The law of annulment of marriage rules of disengagement: How to
regain your freedom to remarry in the Philippines. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing.
Medina, B.T.G. (2015). The Filipino family. 3rd edition. Quezon City: University of the
Philippines Press.
PSA and ICF – Philippine Statistics Authority and ICF International (2014). Philippines
National demographic and health survey 2013. Manila and Rockville: PSA and ICF
International.
Social Weather Stations (SWS) (2015). Fourth quarter 2014 Social Weather Survey: 60%
favor legalization of divorce; was 50% in 2011 and 43% in 2005 [electronic resource].
Quezon City: Social Weather Stations.
¹ The Code of Muslim Personal Laws was passed in 1977. It allows Muslim marriages to
be governed by Islamic Law, thereby permitting divorce for Muslim Filipinos. However,
no similar law was passed to allow marriages solemnized in accordance with the
traditions of other indigenous groups to be governed by their own indigenous laws
(Gloria 2007: 19).

² A declaration of nullity of marriage presupposes that the marriage was not only
defective but also null and void at the time it was celebrated. While, by annulment, the
marriage is declared to have been defective at the time of celebration, it is considered
valid until the time it is annulled (Fenix-Villavicencio and David 2000).

³ Filipino women who have cohabited but no longer live with their partner are
categorized as “separated” in official surveys in the Philippines

http://www.niussp.org/article/the-rise-of-divorce-separation-and-cohabitation-in-the-philippines/