https://e-

lawyersonline.com/static/page/marriage_solemnized_by_a_judge_must_be_made_in_the_chamber_of
_its_court_and_within_its_territorial_jurisdiction_otherwise_the_erring_judge_may_be_held_administ
ratively_liable_but_will_not_affect_the_validity_of_marriage

The complainant accuses the defendant of the crime of bigamy. However, this averment
lacks proof to support the claim.

According to Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code,

II. Bigamy: the crime committed by a married person who contracts a

second or subsequent marriage before the first has been legally
dissolved or before the absent spouse had been declared presumptively
dead.

A. The first marriage must be valid, or at least voidable, and still subsisting and the
second marriage would have been valid were it not for the existence of the first
marriage

B. If the first marriage is completely void, there is no bigamy. If the second marriage is
void, there is no bigamy either. But this may give rise to either adultery or concubinage.

Example: H married first wife. Then he marries second wife. The first wife died
whereupon H married third wife. H is guilty of bigamy for the second marriage. But he is
not guilty of bigamy for the third marriage because the second marriage is void.

C. Bigamy may be committed by reckless imprudence as: (i). by failure to ascertain the
whereabouts of the first wife (ii) one who obtains a divorced abroad and thinking it is
valid here, remarries.

D. The prescriptive period commences after discovery of the second marriage as the
principle of constructive notice does not apply to records in the Civil Registry.

E. In case the second marriage is based on the absence of the first spouse, there must
first be a judicial declaration of presumptive death so that the accused can claim good
faith and avoid prosecution for bigamy.
F. Venue. In the courts of the city, province or province where the second marriage was
celebrated

The ceremony is officiated by a solemnizing officer, who may be a judge within his court’s
jurisdiction, a mayor within his territorial jurisdiction, or a priest or minister who is authorized by
his church or sect and registered with the local civil registrar. In special cases, such as when one
party is “in articulo mortis” or at the point of death, then military commanders, ship captains,
and airplane chiefs may officiate a wedding. Consuls are also allowed to officiate weddings
between two Filipinos abroad.

Judge Eugenio Abunda is from Manila

According to Art. 7. Marriage may be solemnized by:

(1) Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the court’s jurisdiction;

(2) Any priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church or religious sect duly authorized by his church
or religious sect and registered with the civil registrar general, acting within the limits of the
written authority granted him by his church or religious sect and provided that at least one of the
contracting parties belongs to the solemnizing officer’s church or religious sect;

(3) Any ship captain or airplane chief only in the cases mentioned in Article 31;

(4) Any military commander of a unit to which a chaplain is assigned, in the absence of the latter,
during a military operation, likewise only in the cases mentioned in Article 32; or

(5) Any consul general, consul or vice consul in the case provided in Article 10.

In number one, the member of the Judiciary means any incumbent member of the
judiciary within the court’s jurisdiction.

The authority of the solemnizing officer is a formal requisite of marriage. As previously

noted, the absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab
initio, while an irregularity in the formal requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage
but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and
administratively liable.
 In order for a contract of marriage to be considered valid, the following essential
requisites must be 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. In addition, the
following formal requisites must also be present: (1) Authority of the solemnizing officer; (2) A
valid marriage license except in the cases provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; 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 (Articles 2 and 3, Family Code of the
Philippines).

Absent any of the above-mentioned essential or formal requisites will render the
marriage void ab initio, except as stated in Article 35 (2) (Article 4, Ibid.). If we look closely, Article
35 (2) of the Family Code states that marriages that are solemnized by any person not legally
authorized to perform marriages are considered void from the beginning unless such marriages
were contracted with either or both parties believing in good faith that the solemnizing officer
had the legal authority to do so.