A marriage license is one of the formal requisites of marriage (Article 3, Family Code of the Philippines). Except in the cases provided in Articles 27, 28, 31, 32 and 34 of the Family Code of the Philippines, anyone who wants to be married must secure a marriage license from the local civil registrar of the city or municipality where either contracting party habitually resides (Article 9, id.). Such marriage license shall be valid in any part of the Philippines for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of issue and shall be deemed automatically cancelled at the expiration of said period if the contracting parties have not made use of it (Article 20, id.).
One exception to the marriage license requirement is termed as the legal ratification of marital cohabitation as provided in Article 34 of the Family Code, to wit:
“Article 34. No license shall be necessary for the marriage of a man and a woman who have lived together as husband and wife for at least five years and without any legal impediment to marry each other. The contracting parties shall state the foregoing facts in an affidavit before any person authorized to administer oaths. The solemnizing officer shall also state under oath that he ascertained the qualifications of the contracting parties and found no legal impediment to the marriage”.
By lessening the requirements of getting married, this exemption somehow encourages persons who have been living together without the benefit of marriage to legalize their cohabitation. However, the mere cohabitation between the contracting parties does not automatically exempt them from the marriage license requirement. In order that this exemption may be invoked, the following requisites, as enunciated in the case of Borja-Manzano vs. Sanchez (A.M. No. MTJ-00-1329, March 08, 2011) are:
1) The man and woman must have been living together as husband and wife for at least five years before the marriage;
2) The parties must have no legal impediment to marry each other;
3) The fact of absence of legal impediment between the parties must be present at the time of marriage;
4) The parties must execute an affidavit stating that they have lived together for at least five years [and are without legal impediment to marry each other; and
5) The solemnizing officer must execute a sworn statement that he had ascertained the qualifications of the parties and that he had found no legal impediment to their marriage.
