SC: Marriage void due to false claims of cohabitation

MANILA, Philippines — Falsifying proof of cohabitation may be a ground for the nullification of an unlicensed marriage, according to the Supreme Court.

Ruling on a case concerning a couple in Antique, the high tribunal said the couple’s marriage was void from the beginning because their affidavit of cohabitation was falsely executed.

“As the records of this case show, there is inadequate evidence proving that (they) continuously and exclusively cohabited as husband and wife for a period of five years immediately preceding the celebration of their marriage,” it said in a 15-page decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Inting.

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The high court, which handed down the ruling on Feb. 24, but this was made public on Friday, upheld the separate rulings of the Court of Appeals in 2021 and 2022 and the regional trial court in San Jose, Antique, in 2016.

The case stemmed from a petition for the declaration of nullity the husband filed with the San Jose court in 2013, admitting that the affidavit of cohabitation he signed with his supposed wife was false as he had been working overseas for three years out of the six years they lived together.

The couple tried to contract a marriage without a license in May 2009, claiming that they had been residing in the same house since 2003, well within the minimum duration of five years required for a cohabitation to be declared a marriage.

Such a circumstance allows for marriages to be exempt from obtaining a license under Article 34 of the Family Code. The couple could instead execute an affidavit, which shall be approved by a solemnizing officer under oath to ensure that there are no legal obstacles to the marriage.

But the husband asserted that the marriage does not fall within the exemption stipulated in the law because they did not live together for straight years, including the years he was abroad for work. INQ