Article 1.

Marriage 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. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code. Marriage 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. This is part of the definition provided in Section 1 of the Family Code. The Supreme Court stated in a 2007 case that one of the most sacred social institutions is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman, referring to the institution of marriage. One of its essential requisites of marriage is the legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female. The SC also noted that allowing a change of name by reason of a sex reassignment surgery (sex change) will allow the union of a man with another man who has undergone sex reassignment (a male-to-female post-operative transsexual). (http://attyatwork.com/same-sex-marriage-not-yet-legally-recognized-in-the-philippines/) The Philippine Law says that marriage is a special contract, it is unique contract, its nature is permanent which means it will be a contract for the rest of your life. The law also provides that it shall be between a man and a woman, the law does not say between a man and a man or a woman between a woman, therefore same sex marriages are prohibited under our law. (http://philjuris.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/what-is-the-meaning-of-marriage/) It also states that such marriages must be in accordance, in conformity with the law of the Philippines, otherwise the marriage will be void or voidable which means it may be invalidated by the court. Our government is very interested in the life of every married couple because the family is the basic and most important institution of our state, anything that will happen to the family will greatly affect our state thats why if you notice, in cases of annulment, legal separation, adoption etc. . . the government is made a party to the case and is usually represented by the Solicitor General. The nature, consequences and incidents must conform to Philippine Laws and cannot be made a subject of an agreement or stipulation but off course there are certain exceptions to this rule which is marriage settlement or agreement which will only touch on the matters in relation to the property regime or property relations of the parties but again it must gain conform to the Philippine law. (http://philjuris.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/what-is-the-meaning-of-marriage/) Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are 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. (53a) Legal capacity means that both parties must be in the legal age or parents consent is present, either party is legally single and not related by either affinity (law) or consanguinity (blood). And consent freely given does not refer to the parental consent but the consent of the contracting party that they take each other as husband and wife. (Contributor, Val Magno) http://salongacenter.org/2011/10/marriage/

Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are: (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. (53a, 55a) Art. 4. The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio, except as stated in Article 35 (2). A defect in any of the essential 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. (n) Article 4 of the Family Code states the effect of the absence or defect in the requisites: The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio, except as stated in Article 35, paragraph (2). A defect in any of the essential 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. Justice Paras in his Pre-Week Handbook in Civil Law summarizes Article 4 in this way: Absence of any of the essential requisites the marriage is void ab initio. A defect in any of the essential requisites the marriage is voidable. Absence of any of the formal requisites the marriage is void ab initio. An irregularity in any of the formal requisites the marriage is valid but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and administratively liable. (http://famli.blogspot.com/2010/07/legal-lessons-from-kris-aquino-james.html) The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio. (Family Code, Art. 4) This general rule has an exception, which is Article 35(2) of the Family Code, referring to an instance when the marriage is 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 officer had the legal authority to do so. (http://fredpamaos.com/1778/formal-requisites-of-marriage/)