Dear Atty. Joji,

My niece is currently in a comatose state and her boyfriend would like to get a civil marriage ceremony done at her hospital bedside, as soon as possible. Can this be done by a judge or any other authorized officiant here in the Philippines? Can they get married even if she is unconscious, or with just a thumbmark on a marriage contract or license? Hope you can enlighten us in this matter, Atty.

Daniel 

Dear Daniel,

I’m sorry to hear that your niece is in such a state, but unfortunately, such a marriage arrangement wouldn’t be allowed here in the Philippines. A person in comatose cannot give her consent which is an essential requisite of marriage. The Family Code provides that:

No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are present:

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.

On the other hand, the formal requisites of marriage are:

1. Authority of the solemnizing officer;

2. A valid marriage license except in the cases specially provided in the Family Code; 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.

The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void from the beginning, except as stated in Article 35 (2) of the Family Code.

As a special contract, consent is, by definition, indispensable to marriage. Accordingly, the Family Code stipulates the second essential requisite of marriage to be “[c]onsent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.”

It is vital to distinguish the authentic, underlying consent of the parties from the external manifestation of such consent during a marriage ceremony. Jurisprudence therefore recognizes that, when there is no bona fide intention of becoming a spouse to another, a marriage is void for want of consent even when marriage ceremonies have been conducted and, there, the parties declared their intent to enter into married life. (Ado-an-Morimoto vs Morimoto, G.R. 247576, 15 March 2021)

Hope this helps.

Atty. Joji Alonso