Dealing with a bigamist

Dear Atty. Shalie,

My husband and I were married under Christian rites 15 years ago. For the most part, our marriage was happy and without heavy and problematic issues that might have tested us, not until I found out recently that he has another family.

At first, I tried to rationalize what happened and tried to work things out with my husband. However unimaginable as it may be, I later found out that not only was my husband unfaithful, but he also contracted another marriage while we were still married to each other.

I confronted him about this second marriage, claiming that the same was unlawful. However, he reasoned out that his second marriage was not illegal, as he and his second wife had converted to Islam, and thus, they were allowed to get married despite the existence of our marriage.

Is he correct and justified to simply convert to Islam and be able to enter into another marriage and take a second wife while still being married to me?

Leslie

Dear Leslie,

Contracting a second marriage without the previous declaration of nullity of the first may constitute the crime of bigamy. To file a case for bigamy, the following elements must be proven: (1) that the offender has been legally married; (2) that the first marriage has not been legally dissolved or, in case his or her spouse is absent, the absent spouse could not yet be presumed dead according to the Civil Code; (3) that he contracts a second or subsequent marriage; and (4) that the second or subsequent marriage has all the essential requisites for validity.

Considering only the facts as you narrated, your marriage is still subsisting when your husband admitted to having married another, albeit in Muslim rites. Though your husband may claim that he and his second wife both converted to Islam and were married under Muslim rites and contend that Muslims may subsequently marry and be free from criminal liability, the Muslim Code allows subsequent marriages on certain conditions.

More importantly, the Muslim Code explicitly spells out that the Civil Code governs marriages where either party is non-Muslim and which were not solemnized in Muslim rites. Your prior and subsisting marriage is governed by the Civil Code and the corresponding penal provisions of the law. Your husband’s conversion to Islam before or after his second marriage does not justify and exculpate him from criminal liability as the Muslim Code finds no application in his subsisting marriage with you, which is recognized by law that bars and penalizes a subsequent marriage.

The general rule is that a married Muslim cannot marry another. However, in exceptional cases, the male Muslim may do so if “he can deal with them with equal companionship and just treatment as enjoined by Islamic law.”

Conditions must be met for a Muslim husband to observe and comply with should he desire to marry another. One prerequisite is a notice to the wife or wives of the husband’s intent to contract a subsequent marriage. In your case, even this condition was absent.

Atty. Shalimar P. Lazatin-Obinque