SC rulings address validity of marriage and parental authority

The Supreme Court issued rulings on several cases involving marriage and family matters.

In Boado v. Galvez-Boado, the court ruled that a spouse’s inability to love or emotionally connect with their partner—if caused by a genuine personality disorder—may constitute psychological incapacity and serve as grounds to declare a marriage void. The court also clarified that hiding one’s homosexuality from a spouse can constitute fraud and may be used as a basis for annulment.

The SC affirmed that testimonies from a spouse’s family and friends may be submitted as evidence to prove psychological incapacity. To prove that no valid marriage license exists, a negative certification from the local civil registrar is required. If there is no entry for a marriage license, it indicates that no license was issued, which can be grounds to declare a marriage void from the beginning.

In Maliwat-Melad v. Melad, the SC reiterated that a marriage performed by someone without legal authority is generally invalid, except when one or both spouses reasonably believed the officiant had the authority to conduct the ceremony.

The court also clarified that the 15-year period to file a bigamy case begins when the bigamous marriage is discovered, not when it is registered with the government. Only the spouse who was injured by the bigamous marriage may request annulment. A person charged with bigamy may defend themselves by showing that the first marriage was void from the beginning. This defense must be presented in the criminal case, which can proceed independently of any civil nullity proceedings.

On the legitimacy of children, the SC ruled in Republic v. Tangarorang that children remain legitimate even if their parents’ marriage is later declared null due to psychological incapacity. A child legitimated by a subsequent marriage may use the father’s surname if there were no legal obstacles to the parents’ marriage when the child was conceived. Nonmarital children may also use their father’s surname if the father clearly acknowledges them, either through the civil registry, a public document, or a private handwritten document.