THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

(REPUBLIC ACT NO. 386, AS AMENDED)

FIVE STAR PROVISIONS
Art.15. Laws relating to family rights and
duties, or to the status, condition and legal
capacity of persons are binding upon citizens
of the Philippines, even though living abroad.
Art. 19. Every person must, in the exercise
of his rights and in the performance of his
duties, act with justice, give everyone his
due, and observe honesty and good faith.
Art. 6. Every person shall respect the
dignity, personality, privacy and peace of
mind of his neighbors and other persons.
The following and similar acts, though they
may not constitute a criminal oense, shall
produce a cause of action for damages,
prevention and other relief!
"#$ Prying into the privacy of
another%s residence&
"'$ (eddling with or disturbing the
private life or family relations of
another&
")$ *ntriguing to cause another to
be alienated from his friends&
"+$ ,exing or humiliating another
on account of his religious beliefs,
lowly station in life, place of birth,
physical defect, or other personal
condition.
Art. 9. -hen the accused in a criminal
prosecution is ac.uitted on the ground that
his guilt has not been proved beyond
reasonable doubt, a civil action for damages
for the same act or omission may be
instituted. /uch action re.uires only a
preponderance of evidence. 0pon motion of
the defendant, the court may re.uire the
plainti to 1le a bond to answer for damages
in case the complaint should be found to be
malicious.
*f in a criminal case the judgment
of ac.uittal is based upon reasonable doubt,
the court shall so declare. *n the absence of
any declaration to that eect, it may be
inferred from the text of the decision
whether or not the ac.uittal is due to that
ground.
Art. 3. "MEMORI!E$ 2ny public o3cer or
employee, or any private individual, who
directly or indirectly obstructs, defeats,
violates or in any manner impedes or
impairs any of the following rights and
liberties of another person shall be liable to
the latter for damages!
"#$ 4reedom from religion
"'$ 4reedom of speech
")$ 4reedom to write for the press
or to maintain a periodical
publication&
"+$ 4reedom from arbitrary or
illegal detention
"5$ 4reedom of surage
"6$ The right against deprivation of
property without due process
"7$ The right to a just
compensation when private
property is ta8en for public use&
"9$ The right to the e.ual
protection of the laws&
":$ The right to be secure in one%s
person, house, papers, and eects
against unreasonable searches and
seizures&
"#;$ The liberty of abode and of
changing the same&
"##$ The privacy of communication
and correspondence&
"#'$ The right to become a
member of associations or
societies for purposes not contrary
to law&
"#)$ The right to ta8e part in a
peaceable assembly to petition the
<overnment for redress of
grievances&
"#+$ The right to be free from
involuntary servitude in any form&
"#5$ The right of the accused
against excessive bail&
"#6$ The right of the accused to be
heard by himself and counsel, to
be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation against
him, to have a speedy and public
trial, to meet the witnesses face to
face, and to have compulsory
process to secure the attendance
of witnesses in his behalf&
"#7$ 4reedom from being
compelled to be a witness against
one%s self, or from being forced to
confess guilt, or from being
induced by a promise of immunity
or reward to ma8e such confession,
except when the person confessing
becomes a /tate witness&
"#9$ 4reedom from excessive 1nes,
or cruel and unusual punishment,
unless the same is imposed or
in=icted in accordance with a
statute which has not been
judicially declared unconstitutional&
and
"#:$ 4reedom of access to the
courts.
*n any of the cases referred to in
this article, whether or not the defendant%s
act or omission constitute a criminal oense,
the aggrieved party has a right to
commence an entirely separate and distinct
civil action for damages, and for other relief.
/uch civil action shall proceed independently
of any criminal prosecution "if the latter be
instituted$, and may be proved by a
preponderance of evidence.
The indemnity shall include moral
damages. Exemplary damages may also be
adjudicated.
The responsibility herein set forth
is not demandable from a judge unless his
act or omission constitutes a violation of the
Penal >ode or other penal statute.
Art. "#. ?irth determines personality& but
the conceived child shall be considered born
for all purposes that are favorable to it,
provided it be born later with the conditions
speci1ed in the following article. "':a$
E$ECUTIVE ORDER NO. #9
THE FAMIL% CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
FIVE STAR PROVISIONS
Art. 1. "MEMORI!E$ (arriage is a special
contract of permanent union between a man
and a woman entered into in accordance
with law for the establishment of conjugal
and family life. *t is the foundation of the
family and an inviolable social institution
whose nature, conse.uences, and incidents
are governed by law and not subject to
stipulation, except that marriage
settlements may 1x the property relations
during the marriage within the limits
provided by this >ode. "5'a$
Art. . @o marriage shall be valid, unless
these essential re.uisites are present!
"#$ Legal capacity of the
contracting parties who must be a
male and a female& and
"'$ >onsent freely given in the
presence of the solemnizing o3cer.
Art. 3. The formal re.uisites of marriage
are!
"#$ 2uthority of the solemnizing
o3cer&
"'$ 2 valid marriage license except
in the cases provided for in
>hapter ' of this Title& and
")$ 2 marriage ceremony which
ta8es place with the appearance of
the contracting parties before the
solemnizing o3cer and their
personal declaration that they ta8e
each other as husband and wife in
the presence of not less than two
witnesses of legal age. "5)a, 55a$
Art. 1". *n case either or both of the
contracting parties, not having been
emancipated by a previous marriage, are
between the ages of eighteen and twentyA
one, they shall, in addition to the
re.uirements of the preceding articles,
exhibit to the local civil registrar, the
consent to their marriage of their father,
mother, surviving parent or guardian, or
persons having legal charge of them, in the
order mentioned. /uch consent shall be
manifested in writing by the interested
party, who personally appears before the
proper local civil registrar, or in the form of
an a3davit made in the presence of two
witnesses and attested before any o3cial
authorized by law to administer oaths. The
personal manifestation shall be recorded in
both applications for marriage license, and
the a3davit, if one is executed instead, shall
be attached to said applications. "6#a$
Art. 15. "IMPORTANT$ 2ny contracting
party between the ages of twentyAone and
twentyA1ve shall be obliged to as8 their
parents or guardian for advice upon the
intended marriage. *f they do not obtain
such advice, or if it be unfavorable, the
marriage license shall not be issued till after
three months following the completion of the
publication of the application therefore. 2
sworn statement by the contracting parties
to the eect that such advice has been
sought, together with the written advice
given, if any, shall be attached to the
application for marriage license. /hould the
parents or guardian refuse to give any
advice, this fact shall be stated in the sworn
statement. "6'a$
Art. 1. "IMPORTANT$ -hen either or both
of the contracting parties are citizens of a
foreign country, it shall be necessary for
them before a marriage license can be
obtained, to submit a certi1cate of legal
capacity to contract marriage, issued by
their respective diplomatic or consular
o3cials.
/tateless persons or refugees from
other countries shall, in lieu of the certi1cate
of legal capacity herein re.uired, submit an
a3davit stating the circumstances showing
such capacity to contract marriage. "66a$
Art. 6. 2ll marriages solemnized outside
the Philippines, in accordance with the laws
in force in the country where they were
solemnized, and valid there as such, shall
also be valid in this country, except those
prohibited under 2rticles )5"#$, "+$, "5$ and
"6$, )6, )7 and )9. "#7a$
-here a marriage between a
4ilipino citizen and a foreigner is validly
celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly
obtained abroad by the alien spouse
capacitating him or her to remarry, the
4ilipino spouse shall have capacity to
remarry under Philippine law. "2s amended
by Executive Brder ''7$
Art. 3". @o license shall be necessary for
the marriage of a man and a woman who
have lived together as husband and wife for
at least 1ve years and without any legal
impediment to marry each other. The
contracting parties shall state the foregoing
facts in an a3davit before any person
authorized by law to administer oaths. The
solemnizing o3cer shall also state under
oath that he ascertained the .uali1cations of
the contracting parties are found no legal
impediment to the marriage. "76a$
Art. 35. The following marriages shall be
void from the beginning!
"#$ Those contracted by any party
below eighteen years of age even
with the consent of parents or
guardians&
"'$ Those solemnized by any
person not legally authorized to
perform marriages unless such
marriages were contracted with
either or both parties believing in
good faith that the solemnizing
o3cer had the legal authority to do
so&
")$ Those solemnized without
license, except those covered by
the preceding >hapter&
"+$ Those bigamous or polygamous
marriages not failing under 2rticle
+#&
"5$ Those contracted through
mista8e of one contracting party as
to the identity of the other& and
"6$ Those subse.uent marriages
that are void under 2rticle 5).
Art. 36. 2 marriage contracted by any party
who, at the time of the celebration, was
psychologically incapacitated to comply with
the essential marital obligations of marriage,
shall li8ewise be void even if such incapacity
becomes manifest only after its
solemnization. "2s amended by Executive
Brder ''7$
Art. 3&. "MEMORI!E$ (arriages between
the following are incestuous and void from
the beginning, whether relationship between
the parties be legitimate or illegitimate!
"#$ ?etween ascendants and
descendants of any degree& and
"'$ ?etween brothers and sisters,
whether of the full or half blood.
"9#a$
Art. 38. "MEMORI!E$ The following
marriages shall be void from the beginning
for reasons of public policy!
"#$ ?etween collateral blood
relatives, whether legitimate or
illegitimate, up to the fourth civil
degree&
"'$ ?etween stepAparents and stepA
children&
")$ ?etween parentsAinAlaw and
childrenAinAlaw&
"+$ ?etween the adopting parent
and the adopted child&
"5$ ?etween the surviving spouse
of the adopting parent and the
adopted child&
"6$ ?etween the surviving spouse
of the adopted child and the
adopter&
"7$ ?etween an adopted child and
a legitimate child of the adopter&
"9$ ?etween adopted children of
the same adopter& and
":$ ?etween parties where one,
with the intention to marry the
other, 8illed that other person%s
spouse, or his or her own spouse.
"9'a$
Art. 39. "IMPORTANT$ The action or
defense for the declaration of absolute
nullity of a marriage shall not prescribe. "2s
amended by C.2. @o. 95))$
Art. "1. 2 marriage contracted by any
person during the subsistence of a previous
marriage shall be null and void, unless
before the celebration of the subse.uent
marriage, the prior spouse had been absent
for four consecutive years and the spouse
present had a wellAfounded belief that the
absent spouse was already dead. *n case of
disappearance where there is danger of
death under the circumstances set forth in
the provisions of 2rticle ):# of the >ivil
>ode, an absence of only two years shall be
su3cient.
4or the purpose of contracting the
subse.uent marriage under the preceding
paragraph, the spouse present must
institute a summary proceeding as provided
in this >ode for the declaration of
presumptive death of the absentee, without
prejudice to the eect of reappearance of
the absent spouse. "9)a$
Art. ". The subse.uent marriage referred
to in the preceding 2rticle shall be
automatically terminated by the recording of
the a3davit of reappearance of the absent
spouse, unless there is a judgment annulling
the previous marriage or declaring it void ab
initio.
2 sworn statement of the fact and
circumstances of reappearance shall be
recorded in the civil registry of the residence
of the parties to the subse.uent marriage at
the instance of any interested person, with
due notice to the spouses of the subse.uent
marriage and without prejudice to the fact of
reappearance being judicially determined in
case such fact is disputed. "n$
Art. "3. The termination of the subse.uent
marriage referred to in the preceding 2rticle
shall produce the following eects!
"#$ The children of the subse.uent
marriage conceived prior to its
termination shall be considered
legitimate, and their custody and
supA port in case of dispute shall be
decided by the court in a proper
proceeding&
"'$ The absolute community of
property or the conjugal
partnership, as the case may be,
shall be dissolved and li.uidated,
but if either spouse contracted said
marriage in bad faith, his or her
share of the net pro1ts of the
community property or conjugal
partnership property shall be
forfeited in favor of the common
children or, if there are none, the
children of the guilty spouse by a
previous marriage or in default of
children, the innocent spouse&
")$ Donations by reason of
marriage shall remain valid, except
that if the done contracted the
marriage in bad faith, such
donations made to said donee are
revo8ed by operation of law&
"+$ The innocent spouse may
revo8e the designation of the other
spouse who acted in bad faith as
bene1ciary in any insurance policy,
even if such designation be
stipulated as irrevocable& and
"5$ The spouse who contracted the
subse.uent marriage in bad faith
shall be dis.uali1ed to inherit from
the innocent spouse by testate and
intestate succession. "n$
Art. "". *f both spouses of the subse.uent
marriage acted in bad faith, said marriage
shall be void ab initio and all donations by
reason of marriage and testamentary
dispositions made by one in favor of the
other are revo8ed by operation of law. "n$
Art. "5. 2 marriage may be annulled for any
of the following causes, existing at the time
of the marriage!
"#$ That the party in whose behalf
it is sought to have the marriage
annulled was eighteen years of age
or over but below twentyAone, and
the marriage was solemnized
without the consent of the parents,
guardian or person having
substitute parental authority over
the party, in that order, unless
after attaining the age of twentyA
one, such party freely cohabited
with the other and both lived
together as husband and wife&
"'$ That either party was of
unsound mind, unless such party
after coming to reason, freely
cohabited with the other as
husband and wife&
")$ That the consent of either party
was obtained by fraud, unless such
party afterwards, with full
8nowledge of the facts constituting
the fraud, freely cohabited with the
other as husband and wife&
"+$ That the consent of either party
was obtained by force, intimidation
or undue in=uence, unless the
same having disappeared or
ceased, such party thereafter
freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife&
"5$ That either party was physically
incapable of consummating the
marriage with the other, and such
incapacity continues and appears
to be incurable& or
"6$ That either party was aEicted
with a sexuallyAtransmissible
disease found to be serious and
appears to be incurable. "95a$