In Republic of the Philippines v.

Court of Appeals, the Local Civil Registrar issued a

certification of due search and inability to find a record or entry to the effect that
Marriage License No. 3196182 was issued to the parties. The Court held that the
certification of due search and inability to find a record or entry as to the
purported marriage license, issued by the Civil Registrar of Pasig, enjoys probative
value, he being the officer charged under the law to keep a record of all data
relative to the issuance of a marriage license. Based on said certification, the
Court held that there is absence of a marriage license that would render the
marriage void ab initio.

Petitioner prays that his marriage with respondent be declared void ab

initio because it was celebrated without a marriage license. To support his
claim, he presented an authorized representative from the Local Civil Registrar
of Imus, Cavite to identify the Certificate of No Marriage License____

Under Article 1 of the Family Code, marriage is defined as a special

contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in
accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal or 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. (EXECUTIVE
ORDER NO. 209 July 6, 1987, Title 1 Chap. 3 Sec. 39 Amended by RA 8533)

In Alcantara vs. Alcantara, the Supreme Court explained that the

authority of the officer or clergyman shown to have performed a marriage
ceremony will be presumed in the absence of any showing to the contrary.
Moreover, 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. (G.R. No. 167746,
August 28, 2007)
In Engrace Nial vs. Norma Bayadog, the Supreme Court discussed
that the requirement and issuance of marriage license is the State’s
demonstration of its involvement and participation in every marriage in the
maintenance of which the general public is interested. This interest proceeds
from the constitutional mandate that the State recognizes the sanctity of
family life and of affording protection to the family as a basic autonomous
social institution. Specifically, the Constitution considers marriage as an
inviolable social institution, and is the foundation of family life which shall be
protected by the State. This is why the Family Code considers marriage as a
“special contract of permanent union” and case law considers it “not just an
adventure but a lifetime commitment.” xxx. Marriage being a special
relationship must be respected as such and its requirements must be strictly
observed. The presumption that a man and a woman deporting themselves as
husband and wife is based on the approximation of the requirements of the
law. The parties should not be afforded any excuse to not comply with
every single requirement and later use the same missing element as
a pre-conceived escape ground to nullify their marriage. There should
be no exemption from securing a marriage license unless the circumstances
clearly fall within the ambit of the exception. It should be noted that a license
is required in order to notify the public that two persons are about to be united
in matrimony and that anyone who is aware or has knowledge of any
impediment to the union of the two shall make it known to the local civil
registrar.” (G.R. No. 133778, March 14, 2000)

Petitioner cannot insist on the absence of a marriage license to impugn

the validity of his marriage. The cases where the court considered the absence
of a marriage license as a ground for considering the marriage void are clear-
cut. Article 35 of the Family Code considers those marriages solemnized
without marriage license to be void from the beginning but the law requires
that the absence of such marriage license must be apparent on the marriage
contract, or at the very least, supported by a certification from the local civil
registrar that no such marriage license was issued to the parties. In this case,
the Certificate of Marriage between petitioner and respondent reflects a
marriage license number which deserves a probative value because of the
presumption of regularity. Although there is a Certification issued by the Local
Civil Registrar of Imus, Cavite, it must be noted that the same only states that
no license number ______ was issued in favor of petitioner and respondent.
It does not
There may be irregularity with respect to the application of marriage
license, however, this does not affect the validity of marriage. Nonetheless,
the party or parties responsible for the irregularity are civilly, criminally and
administratively liable.
Semper praesumitur pro matrimonio. The presumption is always in favor
of the validity of the marriage. Every intendment of the law or fact leans
toward the validity of the marriage bonds. The Courts look upon this
presumption with great favor. It is not to be lightly repelled; on the contrary,
the presumption is of great weight.
Thus, the Court shall

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant Petition is DENIED for

lack of merit.
The requisites of a valid marriage in the Philippines are grouped into two – the essential and the
formal. Previously, we have provided an enumeration of the formal requisites of marriage on the
Philippines. We recapitulate these as follows:

1. Authority of the solemnizing officer;

2. A valid marriage license, except in certain circumstances; 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.

Similar to the essential requisites of marriage, an absence in any of the formal requisite shall render the
marriage void ab initio. However, an irregularity in any of the formal requisite would not affect the validity
of the marriage but those responsible for the irregularity are subject to criminal, civil or administrative
liabilities.

Authority of the solemnizing officer

The Family Code lists the people who are authorized to solemnize marriages as follows:

1. Priests, rabbis and ministers of any church who had been duly authorized by their church or sect
to administer marriages and who had been registered with the Office of the Civil Registrar
General;
2. Municipal and city mayors;
3. Incumbent members of the judiciary;
4. Ship captains or airplane chiefs (only in cases in articulo mortis);
5. Commanders of military units (in the absence of a chaplain);
6. Consul generals, consuls or vice-consuls

It is worthy to note that the marriage is still valid even if solemnized by a person not authorized to
solemnize marriages, provided either of the parties had believed in good faith that the solemnizing officer
had the authority to do so.

Valid marriage license

Generally, parties getting married are required to secure a marriage license. However, there are
instances when the law exempts couple from securing one. Some of these include:

1. If the marriage is one among Muslims or members of ethnic cultural communities, provided that
the marriage shall be solemnized in accordance with their customs, rites and practices;
2. If the marriage is solemnized in another country which does not require a license;
3. If the contracting parties have cohabited exclusively and without legal impediment as husband
and wife for at least five years prior to the date of marriage.

The marriage ceremony

The law does not have rules on how the marriage shall be celebrated, as long as the contracting parties
personally appear before the solemnizing officer to make a declaration that they take each other as
husband and wife, with at least two persons of legal age standing as witnesses to the ceremony.