Dear PAO,
My husband and I are married for almost 13 years now. One of our godparents arranged the ceremony which took place in our house in Taguig City.

We did not have a marriage license and it was solemnized by a marriage counselor. We have a marriage certificate issued by the NSO but it states there that our marriage took place in Caloocan City instead of Taguig City. The date of marriage is also incorrect. I just want to know whether our marriage is valid and whether I can file for its dissolution.
Ms. Leo

Dear Ms. Leo,
In order for a marriage to be considered valid and binding, the essential and formal requisites must be complied with. As provided for under Article 2 of the Family Code of the Philippines, the essential requisites to a valid marriage comprises of the following: (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 formal requisites to a valid marriage are: (1) the 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 (Article 3, id).

You mentioned in your letter that you and your husband were married without having been issued a valid marriage license. Generally, this renders your marriage null and void because there is an absence of one of the formal requisites set by our law (Article 4, id). However, if your marriage falls on one of the exceptions stated under Articles 27, 28, 33 and 34 of the Family Code, where marriage may be celebrated without the necessity of a marriage license, then your marriage will still be considered valid and may not be dissolved.

You also mentioned in your letter that your marriage was solemnized by a marriage counselor. As a rule, only the following may solemnize marriages: (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 (Article 7, id); and (6) Mayors (Section 444, Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991). Since your marriage was not solemnized by one of the abovementioned authorized persons, it may be said that the same is void. However, if both you and your husband believed in good faith that said marriage counselor had the legal authority to solemnize your marriage, then your marriage will still be considered valid (Article 35, Family Code). Accordingly, a petition for dissolution of marriage will not prosper.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.