Dear PAO,

I work as a seafarer, and my fiancée and I plan to marry each other this month before I travel back to work. I also heard that our ship captain can marry us. Is this true? We wish to get married immediately and want to know who can officiate marriages.

Timothy

Dear Timothy,

The sanctity of marriage is protected by our State, and marriage is considered by our laws to be an inviolable social institution. Thus, our law only authorizes specific persons to solemnize marriages. In this relation, Article 7 of the Family Code provides for the persons who are authorized to solemnize marriages, to wit –

“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 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 case 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;

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

First, any incumbent member of the judiciary may solemnize marriage. The Supreme Court in Beso v. Daguman (AM 99-1211, Jan. 28, 2000, Ponente: Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago) explained the extent of the authority of judges and justices to solemnize marriage and held that:

“An appellate court Justice or a Justice of this Court has jurisdiction over the entire Philippines to solemnize marriages, regardless of the venue, as long as the requisites of the law are complied with. However, judges who are appointed to specific jurisdictions, may officiate in weddings only within said areas and not beyond. Where a judge solemnizes a marriage outside his court’s jurisdiction, there is a resultant irregularity in the formal requisite laid down in Article 3, which while it may not affect the validity of the marriage, may subject the officiating official to administrative liability.”

A priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church or religious sect, provided that at least one of the contracting parties belongs to the solemnizing officer’s church or religious sect, is also a person with the authority to solemnize marriage.

As for a ship captain, airplane chief, or a military commander, as provided under the third and fourth paragraphs of the above-mentioned provision, the marriage must be in articulo mortis, meaning one of the contracting parties is at the point of death.

Lastly, marriages between Filipino citizens abroad may be solemnized by a consul-general, consul or vice-consul of the Republic of the Philippines.

To answer your query, the aforementioned persons are authorized to solemnize marriage. Under Philippine law, your ship captain may only officiate your marriage if either you or your fiancé are at the point of death. Nevertheless, the other officials we mentioned can officiate your marriage, if you so desire.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated on.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@ manilatimes.net