Solemnizing Officers, A7 Family Code

1. Solemnizing Officers

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. (56a)

1) The following are the solemnizing officers recognized by law:

(a) Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the court’s jurisdiction (FAMILY CODE, Article 7);

(b) 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 (Ibid.);

(d) 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 (Ibid.);

(e) Any consul-general, consul or vice-consul in the case provided in Article 10 (Ibid.); and

(f) City/municipal mayor (Local Government Code, Section 444 (b) (1) xviii, Section 455 (b) (1) xviii).

a. Incumbent member of the judiciary

Their authority of incumbent judges or justices is qualified by the phrase “within the court’s jurisdiction.”

For lower courts of the judiciary (e.g. Regional Trial Courts, Metropolitan/Municipal Trial Courts, and their equivalents), the judges are limited to the jurisdiction of the region or city which is covered by their respective courts.

For appellate courts (e.g. Court of Appeals and Supreme Court), the jurisdiction is nationwide.

b. Priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church or religious sect

1) Requisites

The authority of these religious leaders is qualified by several requirements:

(a) They must be duly authorized by their church or religious sect to solemnize marriages;

(b) They are registered with the civil registrar general (or the Philippine Statistics Authority);

(c) They are acting within the limits of the written authority granted by their church or religious sect (emphasize on: written authority, which means the authority should be in writing and not just verbally granted); and

(d) They can only solemnize a marriage if one of the contracting parties belongs to their church or religious sect.

c. Ship captain or airplane chief

Art. 31. A marriage in articulo mortis between passengers or crew members may also be solemnized by a ship captain or by an airplane pilot not only while the ship is at sea or the plane is in flight, but also during stopovers at ports of call. (74a)

1) Ship captains or airplane chiefs may only solemnize marriage in case of articulo mortis between passengers or crew members, whether the ship/plane is in transit, or at a stopover or ports of call.

d. Unit Military commander

Art. 32. A military commander of a unit, who is a commissioned officer, shall likewise have authority to solemnize marriages in articulo mortis between persons within the zone of military operation, whether members of the armed forces or civilians. (74a)

1) The authority of these military commanders is qualified by several requirements:

(a) They must be a commissioned officer cf. Article 32);

(b) They must be a commander of a unit to which a chaplain is assigned;

(d) There is or it is within a military operation (cf. Article 32); and

(e) Either one/both of the parties are in articulo mortis.

NB: The military commanders authority extends to both members of the armed forces or civilians. (Family Code, Article 32)

e. Consul-general, consul or vice-consul

Art. 10. Marriages between Filipino citizens abroad may be solemnized by a consul-general, consul or vice-consul of the Republic of the Philippines. The issuance of the marriage license and the duties of the local civil registrar and of the solemnizing officer with regard to the celebration of marriage shall be performed by said consular official. (75a)

1) The authority of the consul-general, consul, or vice-consul is qualified by the requirement that both parties must be Filipino citizens.

f. City/Municipal Mayor

1) A city/municipal mayor is authorized to solemnize marriages (Local Government Code, Section 444 (b) (1) xviii, Section 455 (b) (1) xviii).

2. Registry of solemnizing officer

The Philippine Statistics Agency has a registry of solemnizing officers called the Solemnizing Officers Information System (SOIS).