PFR Discussion by Dean Aligada
Transcribed by Real, Sheen
F.2. VOIDABLE OR ANNULLABLE
MARRIAGE
Article 14: In case either or both of the
contracting parties, not having been
emancipated by a previous marriage, are
between the ages of eighteen and twenty one,
In addition to the requirements 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
▪ Manifested in writing by the interested party,
who personally appears before the proper local
civil registrar, or
▪ In the form of an affidavit made in the
presence of two witnesses and attested before
any official authorized by law to administer
oaths
▪ The personal manifestation shall be recorded
in both applications for marriage license, and
the affidavit, if one is executed instead, shall be
attached to said applications.
Grounds for Annulment
Article 4 states that “xxx A defect in any of the
essential requisites shall render the marriage
voidable as provided in Article 45.”
=======================================
Article 45. A marriage may be annulled for any
of the following causes, existing at the time of
the marriage:
(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought
to have the marriage annulled was eighteen
years of age or over but below twenty-one,
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 twenty-one, such party freely cohabited
with the other and both lived together as
husband and wife;
(2) That either party was of unsound mind,
unless such party after coming to reason,
freely cohabited with the other as husband and
wife;
(3) That the consent of either party was
obtained by fraud, unless such party
afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts
constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with
the other as husband and wife;
(4) That the consent of either party was
obtained by force, intimidation or undue
influence, 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 afflicted with a
sexually-transmissible disease found to be
serious and appears to be incurable.
=======================================
DAN: Article 45 enumerates the different
voidable marriages under the law must be
read with 46, as art 46 specifies what
constitutes fraud and 47, art. 47 provides the
period of prescription for the bringing of an
action to annul, who can bring the action and
the ratifying of defect in a voidable marriage.
*the defect in a voidable marriage exists at the
time of the celebration of the marriage, not
before or after
Action to Annul: Action in rem, concerns status
of parties; res is relation between parties or
marriage tie; jurisdiction depends on nationality
or domicile not the place of celebration.
Grounds for Annulment explained:
a. Lack of parental consent (Art 45 Par 1)
• 18 ≤ x < 21 without parental consent
• Ratified by party 18 or above but
below 21 upon free cohabitation upon
reaching 21.
In defending the requirement of parental
consent, the Court held that the State has
power to make adjustments in the
constitutional rights of minors based on the
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Commented [SM1]: Art. 45. A marriage may be
annulled for any of the following causes, existing at
the time of the marriage
:
(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have
the marriage annulled was eighteen years of age or
over but below twenty-one, 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 twenty-one, such party freely
cohabited with the other and both lived together as
husband and wife;
(2) That either party was of unsound mind, unless
such party after coming to reason, freely cohabited
with the other as husband and wife;
(3) That the consent of either party was obtained by
fraud, unless such party afterwards, with full
knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely
cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
...
Commented [SM2]: Art. 46. Any of the following
circumstances shall constitute fraud referred to in
Number 3 of the preceding Article:
(1) Non-disclosure of a previous conviction by final
judgment of the other party of a crime involving moral
turpitude;
(2) Concealment by the wife of the fact that at the
time of the marriage, she was pregnant by a man
other than her husband;
(3) Concealment of sexually transmissible disease,
regardless of its nature, existing at the time of the
marriage; or
(4) Concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism
or homosexuality or lesbianism existing at the time of
the marriage.
No other misrepresentation or deceit as to character,
health, rank, fortune or chastity shall constitute such
fraud as will give grounds for action for the annulment
of marriage. (86a) ...
Commented [SM3]: Art. 47. The action for annulment
of marriage must be filed by the following persons and
within the periods indicated herein:
(1) For causes mentioned in number 1 of Article 45 by
the party whose parent or guardian did not give his or
her consent, within five years after attaining the age
of twenty-one, or by the parent or guardian or person
having legal charge of the minor, at any time before
such party has reached the age of twenty-one;
(2) For causes mentioned in number 2 of Article 45,
by the same spouse, who had no knowledge of the
other's insanity; or by any relative or guardian or
person having legal charge of the insane, at any time
before the death of either party, or by the insane
spouse during a lucid interval or after regaining
sanity;
(3) For causes mentioned in number 3 of Article 45,
by the injured party, within five years after the
discovery of the fraud;
(4) For causes mentioned in number 4 of Article 45,
by the injured party, within five years from the time ...
PFR Discussion by Dean Aligada
Transcribed by Real, Sheen
following grounds: 1) the peculiar vulnerability
of children, 2) to protect minors from
immature decision making and prevent
unstable marriages, 3) on the presumption
that parents act in the best interests of their
children in child rearing. (Moe v. Dinkins, (US
Case, 1981))
DAN: It is not correct to say that absence of
parental consent makes a marriage voidable
that is wrong, since not all marriages require
parental consent
*so the proper way of putting it is, a marriage
becomes voidable on the ground of absence of
parental consent when such consent is
required by law.
Q: Under paragraph 1, who can bring an action
for annulment of a marriage?
(1) The parent whose consent is required but
not obtained
(2) The Party to the marriage who is required
to obtain parental consent but did not get such
consent
these are the parties who can bring an action
Q: What is the prescriptive period of the
bringing of the action?
- It depends on who is bringing the action, if the
one bringing the action is (1) the parent, the
action must be brought before the child
reaches the age of 21. (2) If the child brings up
the action, the action must be brought within a
period of 5 years after attaining the age of 21.
Q: Can this defective marriage be ratified? -
Yes, Q: Who can ratify? - The persons
authorized to bring the action are the ones
who can ratify.
Q: What are the modes of ratifying (defined:
Curing of the defect of the marriage) a voidable
marriage due to absence of parental consent?
- If we go by art. 45, it is by free cohabitation.
- If we go by art. 47, it is by prescription.
Q: By ratifying such, does it mean that one’s
voidable marriage under par. 1 of art 45, thus
is the defect cured and does the marriage
cease to be voidable? With regards to if the
cure was brought by the parent, the defect is
cured insofar as the parent is concerned or
insofar as the ratifying party is concerned, but
in totality the marriage does not cease to be
voidable, in as much a the child a longer period
of prescription as long as that period has not
yet elapse, the marriage is still voidable insofar
as the child is concerned ,so the mere fact that
there has been ratification by the parent does
not necessarily mean that the marriage has
seized to be voidable.
* Under art. 45 the mode of ratification is:
- Free Cohabitation, applies only to the child.
b. Insanity (Art 45 Par 2)
• Mental incapacity or insanity is a vice
of consent;
• Can be ratified by cohabitation after
insanity is cured or during a lucid
interval
• Mere mental weakness is not a
ground for annulment, but if found
grave enough, it may amount to
psychological incapacity.
• Intoxication, somnambulism where Commented [SM4]: Sleep Walking
one had no mental capacity to give
consent is equivalent to insanity
• Must exist at the time of the
celebration of the marriage. Insanity
that occurs after the celebration of
marriage does not constitute a cause
for nullity [Katipunan v. Tenorio (1937)]
• Law presumes SANITY, burden of
proof on party alleging insanity
DAN: *the unsoundness of the mind must only
be of one, as to pronounce that one of the
consent were defective making the marriage
voidable, if both spouses were of an unsound
mind at the time of the celebration of the
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PFR Discussion by Dean Aligada
Transcribed by Real, Sheen
marriage, the marriage is not voidable it is void,
on the ground of total absence of consent.
Q: Who can bring an action to annul?
-Primarily it is the spouse of sound mind, but
said spouse does not bring the action then the
law allows for the other relative to bring the
action to annul, Q: Can the unsound mind
spouse bring the action upon itself? - Only
after said spouse regains its sanity.
c. Fraud (art. 45 par 3)
(a) Only those enumerated in Art. 46:
▪ Non-disclosure of previous conviction
by final judgment of a crime involving
moral turpitude
▪ Concealment by wife at the time of
marriage, that she was pregnant by
another man
▪ Concealment of STD regardless of
nature existing at time of marriage.
Must be serious and appears to be
incurable
▪ Concealment of drug addiction,
habitual alcoholism, homosexuality,
lesbianism existing at time of marriage
(a) No other misrepresentation or deceit of
character, health, rank, fortune or chastity
shall constitute fraud.
(b) Conviction of Crime: requisites are
▪ Moral turpitude
▪ Conviction
(a) Concealment of Pregnancy
▪ Fraud against very essence of
marriage; importance of procreation of
children; an assault to the integrity of
the union by introducing ALIEN BLOOD
▪ If husband knew of pregnancy, the
marriage cannot be annulled on the
ground of concealment
(e) May be ratified upon free cohabitation after
knowledge of fraud.
Art. 45 STD Art. 46 STD
Ground for The STD is a type of
annulment fraud which is a ground
for annulment
Does not have to Must be concealed
be concealed
Must be serious Need not be serious
and incurable nor incurable
The STD itself is It is the concealment
the ground for that gives rise to the
annulment annulment
Effect of Cure to Fraud in Art. 46:
Recovery or rehabilitation from STD, drug
addiction, and habitual alcoholism will NOT bar
action for annulment; the defect is not the
disease, but the fraud which vitiated consent.
Wife gave birth 3 months after marriage, and
husband then filed for annulment on the
ground of concealment of non-virginity. Denied.
Court held that it was unbelievable that
husband could not have noticed when wife had
been at least 6 months pregnant prior to
marriage. [Buccat v. Mangonon de Buccat,
(1941)]
The Supreme Court granted annulment because
the wife concealed the fact that she was 4
months pregnant during the time of the
marriage. Since Delizo was “naturally plump,”
Aquino could hardly be expected to know, by
mere looking, whether or not she was pregnant
at the time of the marriage. [Aquino v. Delizo,
(1960)]
It is the concealment of homosexuality, and
not homosexuality per se, that vitiates the
consent of the innocent party. Such
concealment presupposes bad faith and intent
to defraud the other party in giving onsent to
the marriage. [Almelor v. RTC, (2008)]
d. Force, intimidation, undue influence (Art 45.
Par. 4)
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PFR Discussion by Dean Aligada
Transcribed by Real, Sheen
(a) Force must be one as to prevent
party from acting as a free agent; will
destroyed by fear/compulsion
(b) Intimidation must be one as to
compel the party by a reasonable/well-
grounded fear of an imminent and
grave evil upon his person/properties
(c) Degree of intimidation: age, sex,
condition of person borne in mind
(d) Threat or intimidation as not to act
as free agent;
(e) May be ratified upon cohabitation
after force, intimidation, or undue
influence has ceased or disappeared.
DAN: Vitiated consent (Art 45. Par. 4) - does
not make a contract void and unenforceable. A
vitiated consent only gives rise to a voidable
agreement. Under the Civil Code, the vices of
consent are mistake, violence, intimidation,
undue influence or fraud.
* Under the law on contracts, it enumerates the
different vices of consent.
(1) Violence, (2) Intimidation, (3) Duress, (4)
Undue Influence and (5) Fraud
Q: Do they ^ apply to actions for annulment of
marriage?
-Yes, except fraud, because in the case of fraud
art 46 will apply. Fraud can only be committed
only under the circumstances mentioned under
art 46.
COT: Ruiz Vs Atienza
CASE: a case involving a young man preparing
for the bar, he had a girlfriend. One day the
father caught the two in a compromising
situation, the father said: “Unless you marry my
daughter, we will see to it that you never take
the bar, I will see to it, you never become a
lawyer”, The boy in turn in fear for his dream,
told the father to not worry that he will marry
his daughter, they got married. He became a
lawyer and he then bought an action on this
particular matter, to have his marriage annulled
on the grounds of his consent being vitiated by
intimidation.
The court said though there was
intimidation used against you, but not all
intimidation constitutes a threat, which will
invalidate consent because under the law on
contracts it says: A threat to commit a
wrongful act is what would vitiate consent. In
other words even if there has been a threat or
intimidation, if the threat was not to commit a
wrongful act it will not vitiate consent. The
court said; in your case indeed there was
intimidation, but threat however was a rightful
act, since it is the right of every parent to
vindicate the honor of their children. Petition
for annulment dismissed
e. Impotency
(a) Must exist at time of marriage, and be
continuous and incurable. If incapacity can be
remedied or is removable by operation, not
annullable [Sarao v Guevarra (1940)]
(b) Physical condition - sexual intercourse with
a person of the opposite sex is impossible, not
mere sterility
(c) Only the potent spouse can file the action
for annulment and he/she must not have been Commented [SM5]: Meaning: threats, violence, constraints,
aware of the other’s impotency at the time of or other action brought to bear on someone to do something
against their will or better judgment.
marriage (Sempio-Diy)
▪ If he/she was aware, it is implied that
he/she renounced copulation by
consenting to the marriage. (Tolentino)
(d) When both spouses are impotent, marriage
cannot be annulled because neither spouse is
aggrieved. (Sempio-Diy)
▪ An impotent plaintiff could not have
expected copulation with the other
spouse. (Tolentino)
(e) *Potency is presumed; party who alleges
impotency has burden of proof [Jimenez v
Canizares (1960)]
(f) REFUSAL of wife to be examined *DOES NOT
PRESUME impotency [Jimenez v Canizares
(1960)]
N.B.: If she continues to refuse the physical
exam, she can be held in contempt & ordered Commented [SM6]: The triennial cohabitation rule is a
doctrine in common law, especially in England. It is a rule of
confined in jail until she does so. presumption whereby a husband is deemed to be impotent
*So much as long as the ruling of the court of should the marriage remain unconsummated after a
cohabitation of at least three (3) years. Otherwise put, should
the case of Republic vs Jimenez is still in effect the wife remain a virgin after at least three (3) years of living
the doctrine of triennial cohabitation can never together with her husband, the latter is deemed to be
impotent. This rule may also be referred to as the "rule on
and will never be applied in the Philippines. non-coitus."
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PFR Discussion by Dean Aligada
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However in case of Thompson vs Thompson,
the reasons for which was when it comes to
pleasures of the bed, man is considered to be a
carnal beast or a caveman.
DAN: Impotence has been defined as: Inability
to perform the marital act/conjugal act, to
copulate but not the inability to procreate,
Impotence =/= Sterility
f. Sexually-transmissible disease serious and
incurable
(d) Reason: danger to the health of spouse &
offspring/s
(e) Same as incurable impotency
(f) Not subject to ratification: cannot be ratified
or convalidated by cohabitation:
▪ Affliction of STD is unknown to the other
spouse (Balane)
▪ The other spouse must also be free from a
similar STD. (Balane)
----------------------------------------------------------------

(a) Should exist at the time of the marriage

(b) Should be found serious
(c) Should appear to be incurable

Who may file, Prescription, Ratification

Ground Who can file Prescription Ratification
(Art. 45) (Art. 47) (Art. 47) (Art. 45)
Lack of Party 18 or above but Within 5 years after Free cohabitation after
parental below 21 attaining 21. attaining age of 21.
consent Parent or guardian who Before party below 21
did not give consent reaches 21.
Insanity Sane spouse with no Any time before the death Free cohabitation of insane
knowledge of the other’s of either party party after insane party
insanity comes to reason

Legal guardian of insane

party
Insane party During lucid interval or
after regaining sanity, and
before death
Fraud Injured party (defrauded Within 5 years after Free cohabitation after
party) discovery of fraud having full knowledge of
fraud
Force, Injured party Within 5 years after Free cohabitation after the
intimidation, disappearance of force, force or intimidation or
undue undue influence, or undue influence has
influence intimidation ceased or disappeared

Impotence Potent spouse Within 5 years after Cannot be ratified but

marriage action prescribes
STD Healthy party Within 5 years after Cannot be ratified but
marriage action prescribes

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PFR Discussion by Dean Aligada
Transcribed by Real, Sheen

Marriages Not Subject to Ratification:

(1) One spouse is incurably impotent
(2) One spouse has an incurable STD
Reason: Public policy and health. Although the
action of to annul these marriages can prescribe
(5 years).
Presence of Prosecutor
Art. 48: To prevent collusion between the
parties, fabrication or suppression of evidence,
the prosecuting attorney or fiscal shall appear
on behalf of the State.
In a legal separation or annulment case, the
prosecuting attorney must first rule out
collusion as a condition sine qua non for further
proceedings. A certification by the prosecutor
that he was present during the hearing and
even cross-examined the plaintiff does not
suffice to comply with the mandatory
requirement. [Corpuz v. Ochoterena, (2004)]
Effects of Pending Decree of Annulment
The Court shall provide for the support of
spouses and support and custody of children. In
determining which parent should have custody
of them, their moral and material welfare shall
be given paramount consideration.
Effects of Decree of Annulment
(Same as Decree of Nullity)
The effects provided for by paragraphs (2), (3),
(4) and (5) of Article 43 and by Article 44 shall
also apply in the proper cases to marriages
which are declared void ab initio or annulled by
final judgment under Articles 40 and 45 (Art.
50(1)).

Comparative Table on Void and Voidable Marriage

Void Voidable
Nature No validity from the time of performance Valid until annulled
Susceptibility of Cannot be ratified Can be ratified
Ratification
Property Relation Only co-ownership; No ACP or CPG despite ACP or any other property
having entered into a marriage settlement regime in accordance with the
marriage settlement
Status of Illegitimate under Art. 165 (with Art 36 and Children are legitimate if
Children Art 53 as exceptions conceived or born prior to the
decree
How Impugned (a) May be attached directly or collaterally, (a) Cannot be attacked
but for the purpose of remarriage, a judicial collaterally
declaration of nullity is required (b) Cannot be impugned after the
(b) Can be impugned even after death of the death of one of the parties
parties
Who may challenge A proper interested person (depending on A party to the marriage
validity the dates of marriage and of filing of
proceeding)
Susceptible to Does not prescribe Prescribes
Prescription

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PFR Discussion by Dean Aligada
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