Dear Atty. Chris,

Hi, Attorney. I am a Filipino and my soon-to-be-husband is a foreign national. We'd like to have a church wedding here but we've already agreed that the marriage would be registered abroad. Can we do the usual church ceremonies but not sign a marriage contract? Thank you.

Alice

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Dear Alice,

Marriage, while one of the "basic civil rights of man," and the freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men, is still regulated by law particularly in civilized nations because of the very nature of marriage as a basic social institution upon which a society may be built. (Persons and Family Relations Law, Fourth Edition, 2004, page 97, Melencio Sta. Maria Jr.)

Marriage in the Philippines is governed by the Family Code of the Philippines, Articles 2 and 3 of which provide for the essential and formal requisites of a valid marriage, to wit:

"Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid unless these essential requisites are present: (1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be male and a female; and (2) Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer."

"Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are: (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."

You and your fiancé can celebrate a church wedding in the Philippines as long as all the above-mentioned requisites are present provided, however, since your fiancé is a foreign national, he must have a "certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage" from his diplomatic officials in accordance with Article 21 of the Family to prove his legal capacity — a formal requisite of marriage.