Intricasies of Marriages: Some Legal Implications

As of writing, the Philippines and the Vatican are the only two countries which have no divorce law. While there are initiatives to lobby for the enactment of a divorce law, these have not been successful. But whether the Philippines should join the rest of the world in adapting a divorce law is still a much contested topic and should be a subject of another post.

Read more here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/326647/in-the-know-only-the-vatican-and-the-philippines

This article will discuss the current laws governing the marriages of Filipinos and former Filipinos.

First, let us define what marriage means under the Philippine law. The Family Code provides:

"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 the marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code."

From the provision of the law, marriage in the Philippines can be characterized as a special contract of permanent union. This is the reason why there is divorce is not recognized in this jurisdiction. It is also a union between a man and a woman only and thus in this jurisdiction, gay and lesbian marriages are not recognized as well. Marriage is entered into according to law and not merely subject to stipulations of the party. Marriage has for its purpose, the establishment of conjugal and family life.

Under the Philippine law, the following are the essential requisites of a valid marriage:

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.

The following are the formal requisites of a valid marriage:

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.

In case of absence or defects, the effects shall be as follows:

a. In case of absence of any essential or formal requisites, marriage shall be considered void ab initio except that if the marriage is solemnized by an unauthorized person, the marriage will still be valid if either or both contracting parties believed in good faith that the solemnizing officer had legal authority (Art 35(2) of the Family Code).

b. In case of defect in the essential requisites renders the marriage voidable.

c. In case of irregularity in the formal requisites, the marriage will still valid but party responsible for such irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and administratively liable.

Not all marriages however work out well. When marriages suffer from causes existing at the time of the celebration of marriage or during its existence, spouses have remedy under the law. In the legal perspective, marriage may be void ab initio (marriage is inexistent from the time of performance) or voidable (marriage is valid until annulled).

Under the law, there are at least two remedies by which spouses can avail to terminate a marriage. These are 1) declaration of nullity of marriage and 2) annulment of marriage. Declaration of nullity of marriage is an available remedy in void marriages. This action does not prescribe. The following are void marriages under the law:

1. Contracted by any party below 18 years old.

2. Solemnizing officer has no authority (except: either or both parties believed in good faith that the officer had authority).

3. Solemnized without license (except: when marriage license is not required).

4. Bigamous or polygamous marriages (with certain exceptions).

5. Mistake in identity.

6. Psychological incapacity. 

Annulment of marriage, on the other hand is available remedy for voidable marriages to be terminated.  The grounds for annulment of marriage are as follows:

1. Lack of parental consent.

2. Insanity of one of the parties.

3. Fraud

•  non-disclosure of conviction by final judgment of crime involving moral turpitude
• concealment of pregnancy by another man
• concealment of sexually transmissible disease, regardless of nature, existing at the time of the marriage
•  concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, homosexuality and lesbianism

4. Impotency

5. Affliction of sexually transmissible disease found to be serious and which appears incurable.

It may be simple to read but in reality marriage is a complicated topic. There are cases of Filipinos being married and then later on acquiring different citizenship by naturalization and getting divorced. What law should apply? Is the divorce valid? What is the status of the children if any? These are only some of the possible questions. However, it may be useful for anyone (Filipino) to remember that Article 15 of the Civil Code provides that 'laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.'

Facetime and Viber: Transforming the Landscape of Relationships

In a recent study conducted by the Cornell University and the City University in Hong Kong, researchers found that couples who lived far apart had stronger bonds, due to greater intimacy and sharing self revealing aspects of oneself.

Read more here: 
http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-on/long-distance-relationships-result-stronger-bonds-says-study-150944527.html

This maybe partly due to the recent advances in technology which have paved the way to less costly, more convenient and more personal lines of communication. Mainly, however, the reason behind the success of any relationship is the resolve to love, trust and respect each other.

Recently, I met a Philippine Army Scout Ranger who has been married to his wife (a former Army military nurse) for several years. They have been together for the past 15 years but have been geographically apart ever since then. Being both from the military, they were often assigned in different places.  Six years ago, the wife went to the United States (US) to work as a nurse and up to now, she is still in the US. The husband is still in the Philippines and they are not expecting to be together for good in the next ten years (which are the years he still has to be in active duty). When I asked him to sum up all the years they have been together, he said that it would not even amount to a year but only months. All in all, they have been (geographically) together for only 8 months and while apart, they have been communicating through Skype.

In the Philippines, there are several ways by which families, loved ones communicate with each other. For Apple users, the iMessage and Facetime are two breakthroughs to communication. Through iMessage, an iphone, ipad or itouch with wi-fi or 3g internet connection can send messages to another iphone, ipad, itouch user anywhere in the world. I hate to say this, 'but wait there is more'! Through iMessage, videos and photos can also be instantly transmitted. It does not stop there because, by configuring the settings, the time when the message was delivered, received and read can also be viewed. No more excuses for faulty connections, eh? Through Facetime, on the other hand, as the name implies, you can now see your loved ones face to face without turning on that laptop or that desktop with video camera. In real time, you will be able to see another person open his eyes in the morning, eat lunch which you watched him cook, see the lake by which the other is standing by, or see how the other falls asleep in the evening. These applications have been mainstreamed that they are sometimes being used as verbs like, 'I will facetime you later' or 'Viber me'.

For non-Apple users, there are also tons of applications with the same and at times better features than iMessage and Facetime. For one, there is Viber. Through Viber, friends can chat about (anyone and) anything, pester and send stickers to each other anytime of the day and night. Like Facetime, video call is also available here. There is also WeChat (again with the same features as Facetime and iMessage combined).  These applications have a feature where voice can be recorded and transmitted. Whoa! There is also Line which has the same features as WeChat. Of course, who can ever forget the classics, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Fring, and Facebook! Now, communication has become more animated, graphical, real time, personal, etc etc. Wherever you may be, you will never feel alone. Geographical boundaries by which we are separated is continuously becoming a thing of the past. You might be sleeping in the Philippines and waking up in some other parts of the world. Holograms, teleporting might even become possible.

On the main aspect however, when there is a resolve to love, respect and trust each other, nothing can really be impossible. There is no greater connection than the connection of two souls. This is more powerful than any application available.

The Warrior

I'll cry a river of tears;
I'll wait for a thousand years;
Wide awake under the stars, I will lie;
Just to have a glimpse of that smile.
But will you do the same for me?

I'd tell you everyday how I feel;
Just so you'll know that this is real;
Cause baby, it's true what I say,
That I need you each and everyday.
But will you feel the same way for me?

I will watch you go to sleep;
Make sure I'd be the last memory you'd keep;
And that the nightmares of the past won't visit;
So that your dreams would always be sweet.
But will you be the same angel for me?

I'd fight for you in any battle;
To see you finally free from any shackle;
Until the wounds become merely scars;
And the troubles become unfamiliar.
But will you be my warrior too and fight my fears?

By the pale moon, I'll rage against the odds;
Weak and weary, faith will be my clad;
Crush my fears and maybe shed me some tears;
This time,  please hold my hand;
And in this battle, our victory will never end.