[ Act No. 3613, December 04, 1929 ]
THE MARRIAGE LAW
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER
TITLE OF ACT
PRELIMINARY SECTION. Title of Act.-This Act shall be known as the Marriage Law.
CHAPTER I
MARRIAGE REQUISITES
Section 1. Essential requisites.-Essential requisites for marriage are the legal capacity of the contracting parties and their consent.
Section 2. Legal capacity.-Any male of the age of sixteen years or upwards, and any female of the age of fourteen, years or upwards, not included in any of the exceptions mentioned in sections twenty-eight and twenty-nine of this Act, may contract marriage.
Section 3. Mutual consent.-No particular form for the ceremony of marriage is required, but the parties with legal capacity to contract marriage must declare, in the presence of the person solemnizing the marriage and of two witnesses of legal age, that they take each other as husband and wife. This declaration shall be set forth in an instrument in triplicate, signed by signature or mark by the contracting parties and said two witnesses and attested by the person solemnizing the marriage.
In case of a marriage on the point of death, when the dying party, being physically unable, cannot sign the instrument by signature or mark, it shall be sufficient for one of the witnesses to the marriage to sign in his name, which fact shall be attested by the minister solemnizing the marriage.
Section 4. Persons authorized to solemnize marriages.-Marriage may be solemnized by-
(a) The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court;
(b) Judges and auxiliary judges of Courts of First Instance;
(c) The municipal judges of Manila and justices of the peace, and
(d) Priests or ministers of the gospel of any denomination, church, sect or religion, and chaplains of the Army or Navy of the United States registered in the Philippine National Library, as provided in Chapter IV of this Act.
Section 5. Place where solemnized.-The marriage shall solemnized publicly in the office of the justice or court or in the church, chapel, or temple, according to whether it is performed by an official or by a priest or minister of any denomination, church, sect or religion, and not elsewhere, except in cases of marriages contracted on the point of death or in remote places in accordance with section twenty of this Act, or when one of the parents or the guardians of the female or the latter herself if over eighteen years of age, request it in writing, in which cases the marriage may be solemnized at the house or place designated by said parent or guardian of the female or by the latter herself in a sworn statement to that effect.
Section 6. Meaning of church, chapel, or temple.-For the purposes of this Act, a church, chapel, or temple shall be any building constructed of strong, mixed, or light materials, open to the faithful at suitable hours of the day and set aside for the celebration of religious services and the solemnization of marriages and other sacred ceremonies.
Section 7. Formal requisites-Marriage license.-With the exception of the marriages of an exceptional character authorized in Chapter II of this Act, no marriage shall be solemnized in the Philippine Islands without a license first being issued by the municipal secretary of the municipality where the female has her habitual residence, or by the clerk of the Municipal Court if residing in the City of Manila. Said officials shall issue the proper license if each of the contracting parties swears separately before them or before any public official authorized to administer oaths or any priest or minister authorized to solemnize marriage, to an application in writing setting forth that such party has the necessary qualifications for contracting marriage in conformity with this Act. Such application shall in so far as possible contain the following data:
(a) Full name of the contracting party.
(b) Place of birth.
(c) Age, date of birth.
(d) Civil status (single, widow or widower, or divorced).
(e) If divorced, how and when the previous marriage was dissolved.
(f) Present residence.
(g) Degree of relationship of contracting parties.
(h) Full name of father.
(i) Residence of father.
(j) Full name of mother.
(k) Residence of mother.
(l) Full name and residence of guardian or person having charge (in case the contracting party has neither father nor mother and is under the age of twenty years, if a male, or eighteen years, if a female).
Section 8. Baptismal certificate-Instrument in lieu thereof.-The municipal secretary or clerk of the Municipal, Court of the City of Manila, as the case may be upon receiving such application, shall require the exhibition of the original baptismal or birth certificates of the contracting parties or copies of such documents duly attested by the persons having custody of the originals. These certificates or certified copies of the documents required by this section need not be sworn to and shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax. The signature and official title of the person issuing the certificate shall be sufficient proof of its authenticity.
If either of the contracting parties is unable to produce his baptismal or birth certificate or a certified copy of either because of the destruction or loss of the original, or if it is shown by an affidavit of such party or of any other person that such baptism birth certificate has not yet been received though the same has been requested of the person having custody thereof at least fifteen days prior to the date of the application, such party may furnish in lieu thereof an instrument drawn up and sworn to before the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila or before the municipal secretary ccncerned or any public official authorized to solemnize marriage. Such instrument shall contain the sworn declaration of two witnesses of lawful age, of either sex, setting forth the full name, profession, and residence of such contracting party and of his or her parents, if known, and the place and date of birth of such party. The nearest of kin the contracting parties shall be preferred as witnesses, and in their default persons well known in the province or the locality for their honesty and good repute.
The exhibition of baptismal or birth certificates shall not be required if the parent; the contracting parties appear personally before the municipal secretary or before the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila, as the case may be, and swear to the correctness of the age of said parties.
Section 9. Requisites for widowed divorced persons and minors.-In case either of the contracting parties is a widowed or divorced person, the same shall be required to furnish, instead of the baptismal or birth certificate required in the last preceding section, the death certificate of the deceased spouse or the decree of the divorce court, as the case may be. In case the death certificate cannot be found, the party shall make an affidavit setting forth this circumstance and his actual civil status and the name and the date of the death of the deceased spouse.
In case the contracting parties or either of them, being single, are less than twenty years of a ore as regards male and less than eighteen years as regards the female, they shall, in addition to the requirements of the preceding sections, exhibit to the municipal secretary or to the clerk of the Municipal Court of the City of Manila, as the case may be, the consent to their marriage of their father, mother or guardian, or person having legal charge of them, in the order mentioned. Such consent shall be in writing, under oath taken with the appearance of the interested parties before the proper municipal secretary or the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila, or in the form of an affidavit made in the presence of two witnesses and attested by a priest or minister authorized to solemnize marriage, or before any official authorised by law to administer oaths.
Section 10. Issuance of marriage license.-The municipal secretary or the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila, as the case may be, shall post during ten consecutive days in a conspicuous place in the building where he has his office, a notice setting forth the full names and domiciles, of the applicants for marriage licenses, their respective ages, and the names of their parents if living or of their guardians if otherwise. The license applied for shall be issued at the expiration of said period; but if either of the applicants and a priest or minister of the religion professed by such applicant state in writing and under oath that the rules and practices of the church; sect, or religion under which such applicant desires to contract marriage require banns or publications prior to the solemnization of the marriage, and that said church, sect, or religion complies with said rules and practices and has obtained the proper certificate from the Director of the Philippine National Library, it shall not be necessary for the municipal secretary or the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila to make the publication required in this paragraph, and in this case the license shall issue immediately after the filing of the application and shall state the church, sect, or religion in which the marriage is to be solemnized. Neither shall such publication be necessary if the father, mother, guardian, or person in charge of each of the contracting parties, whether the latter be over or under twenty, if male, or eighteen years of age, if female, accompany the same when they apply for the license, in which case such license shall be issued immediately, after preparation of a document in duplicate signed by the persons above mentioned, the duplicate to be attached to the license and the original to be filed.
Section 11. Fees-Validity of license.-The municipal secretary or clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila, as the case may be, shall require the previous payment into the municipal treasury of two pesos for each license issued, which fee shall accrue to the school funds of the municipality in which it is paid. The license shall be valid in any part of the Philippine Islands; but it shall be good for no more than one hundred and twenty days from the date on which issued and shall be deemed cancelled at the expiration of said period if the interested parties have not made use of it.
Section 12. Prohibition of issuance of license.-Upon compliance with all the legal requirements of sections seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and thirteen of this Act, the duty to issue the marriage license is ministerial. However, a marriage license shall not issue in case the municipal secretary or clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila, as the case may be, is convinced, in view of authentic documentary evidence in his possession, that the applicants-
(a) Are related to each other in the degrees of relationship specified in section twenty-eight, or
(b) Have not the legal age provided for in section two.
Section 13. Marriage license in case of members of the United States Army or Navy or Americans and foreigners not residing in the Philippine Islands.-When both contracting parties, or the female, are citizens of the United States or of any of the territories thereof, but not habitual residents of the Philippine Islands, or when they are subjects of foreign countries whose habitual residence is not in this country, or when they are members of the United States Army or Navy, it shall be necessary for the contracting parties, before a marriage license can issue, to provide themselves with a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, in the following manner:
When both contracting parties, or the woman, are citizens at the United States or of any of the territories thereof they shall apply to the office of the Governor-General for a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage The once of the Governor-General is hereby authorized to investigate and determine whether or not there is any legal impediment to the issuance of a marriage license, and to issue the proper certificate if no such impediment is found.
Subjects of foreign countries shall apply to their respective consuls for such certificates. The consuls are hereby authorized to issue certificates of legal capacity once it pas been shown, upon investigation, that there is no legal impediment to the solemnization of the marriage between the applicants. In case both applicants are not subjects of the same country, their respective consuls are likewise authorized to issue said certificates to their respective subjects and the certificates of both consuls shall be necessary to obtain the marriage license.
When the applicants, or one of them, are members of the United States Army or Navy, whatever be their citizenship and whether or not their habitual residence be in the Philippine Islands, the certificate shall be obtained from the post commander or other commander under whose immediate orders the interested party is serving, instead of being secured in the office of the Governor-General, and said officers are hereby authorized to issue such certificate after having made the proper investigation.
Upon delivery of any of the certificates referred to in this section, and upon payment of the fees required in section eleven of this Act, the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila or the municipal secretary concerned shall forthwith issue the marriage license.
Section 14. Definition of habitual residence.-For the purposes of this Act, the habitual residence of the female shall be deemed to be the residence of her parents or guardian, if such female is less than eighteen years of age, and if over said age, the place where she lived uninterruptedly for at least one year prior to the date of the application for the marriage license.
Section 15. Marriage certificate.-The marriage certificate in which the contracting parties shall state that they take each other as husband and wife, referred to in section three of this Act, shall also contain:
(a) The full names and domiciles of the contracting parties;
(b) The age of each; and
(c) A statement that the proper marriage license has been issued under this Act and that the contracting parties have the consent of their parents in case the male is under twenty or the female under eighteen years of age.
Section 16. Certificate to be sent to authorities.-It shall be the duty of the person solemnizing the marriage to furnish to either of the contracting parties one of the three copies of the marriage contract in triplicate referred to in section three of this Act, and to send another copy of said document not later than fifteen days after the marriage took place to the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila or the municipal secretary of the municipality where the marriage was solemnized, as the case may be. The official, priest, or minister solemnizing the marriage shall retain the third copy of the marriage contract, the marriage license and the affidavit of the interested party regarding the solemnization of the marriage in a place other than those mentioned in section five of this Act, if there be any such affidavit, in the file that he must keep.
Section 17. Duties of clerk of court and municipal secretary-Exemption from fees.-It shall be the duty of the municipal secretary or the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila or, in their absence, of the employees acting in their stead, to (1) prepare the documents required by this Act and (2) administer oaths to all interested parties without any charge in both cases.
In municipal districts or other political subdivisions where there are no municipal secretaries, the duties imposed upon the latter by this Act shall be performed by the municipal treasurers, or, in default thereof, by any official designated for said purpose by the provincial governor.
The documents and affidavits filed in connection with applications for marriage licenses shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax.
Section 18. Municipal register of applications and licenses.-The clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila and the municipal secretaries concerned shall enter all applications for marriage licenses filed with them in a register book strictly in the order in which the same shall be received. They shall enter in said register the names of the applicants, the date on which the marriage license was issued, and such other data as may be required by the regulations issued by the Secretary of Justice.
Section 19. Marriages performed abroad.-All marriages performed outside the Philippine Islands in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they were performed and valid there as such, shall also be valid in these Islands.
CHAPTER II
MARRIAGES OF EXCEPTIONAL CHARACTER
Section 20. Marriages "in articulo mortis" and marriages at remote places.-In case either of the contracting parties is on the point of death or the female has her habitual residence at a place more than fifteen kilometers distant from the municipal building and there is no communication by railroad or by provincial or local highway between the former and the latter, the marriage may be solemnized without necessity of a marriage license; but in such cases the official, priest, or minister solemnizing it shall state in an affidavit made before the municipal secretary or any person authorized by law to administer oaths that the marriage was performed in articulo mortis or at a place more than fifteen kilometers distant from the municipal building concerned, in which latter case he shall give the name of the barrio where the marriage was solemnized. The person who solemnized the marriage shall also state, in either case, that he took the necessary steps to ascertain the age and relationship of the contracting parties and that there was in his opinion no legal impediment to the marriage at the time that it was solemnized.
Section 21. Report to authorities in cases of marriage "in articulo mortis" or at distant places-Payment of fees.-The original of the affidavit required in the last preceding section, together with a copy of the marriage contract, shall be sent by the person solemnizing the marriage to the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila or to the municipal secretary of the municipality where it was performed, as the case may be, within the period of thirty days after the performance of the marriage. The clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila or the municipal secretary, or the person acting in his stead, shall, however, before filing the papers, require the payment into the municipal treasury of the legal fees required in section eleven of this Act.
Section 22. Marriages in cases of religious revivals.-When as a direct consequence of an extraordinary religious revival in any given locality, brought about by an intensive and extensive preaching of the gospel for at least three consecutive days by a group of priests or ministers of any existing church, sect, or religion of the Philippines who have gone to said locality for the express purpose of bringing about a religious revival, there shall appear before such priests or ministers authorized to solemnize marriage, at the conclusion of their missionary work, men and women who, having lived together publicly in a state of concubinage for not less than two years, desire to legalize their union, such priests or ministers shall have authority to solemnize such marriages without any necessity of observing the requirements of this Act, except the payment to the municipal treasury concerned of the fee of two pesos established in section eleven, the receipt for which shall be filed with the municipal secretary by the priests or ministers who solemnized the marriage, prior to filing the documents concerning the same.
It shall, however, be the duty of the leader or person acting as leader of the priests or ministers who held the religious revival to set forth in a sworn statement sent by him within fifteen days to the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila or to the municipal secretary concerned, as the case may be: (1) that there has been a religious revival held in accordance with this section; (2) the number of marriages solemnized, specifying names in full, ages, and names of the places or barrios of residence; (3) that the marriages solemnized by them are of exceptional character, the contracting parties being men and women who had lived together publicly in a state of concubinage for a period of not less than two years; (4) that the investigations made by them in each case did not show any legal impediment to the celebration of such marriages; (5) that they, are certain that the persons who contracted marriage are residents of the municipality where the revival was held; (6) that all the marriage certificates mentioned in section sixteen of this Act have been sent to the municipal secretary concerned or to the clerk of the municipal court of Manila, as the case may be, and (7) that they have delivered a copy of the marriage certificate to each couple contracting marriage.
Section 23. Religious ratification of a marriage.-In case two persons married in accordance with this Act desire to ratify their union in conformity with the regulations, rites, or practices of any church, sect, or religion, it shall no longer be necessary to comply with the requirements of Chapter I, and any ratification so made shall merely be considered as a purely religious ceremony.
Section 24. Marriages between non-Christians.-A previous license shall not be required, either, for marriages between Igorots, Ifugaos, Negritos, Moros or other non-Christians converted to the Christian faith and baptized not over five years before such marriages, when solemnized by priests or ministers of the gospel of any denomination, church, sect or religion properly registered under the provisions of this Act. In such cases, the priest or minister solemnizing the marriage shall state in a sworn statement made before any person authorized by law to administer oaths, that the marriage was performed between Igorots, Ifugaos, Negritos, Moros or other non-Christians converted to the Christian faith and baptized not more than five years before such marriage, that he took the necessary steps to ascertain the age and relationship of the contracting parties, and that, in his judgment, no legal impediment to the marriage existed at the time that it was solemnized. This sworn statement and a copy of the marriage contract shall be sent by the officiating priest or minister not later than thirty days after the solemnization of the marriage to the proper municipal secretary who shall file the same without requiring any payment of fees.
Section 25. Marriages between Mohammedans and pagans.-Marriages between Mohammedans may be performed in accordance with the rites or practices of their religion, in which case they shall be exempt from the formal requirements of Chapter I of this Act. Marriages between persons who do not profess the Mohammedan or Christian religion nor any particular religion and who inhabit any of the regions of the Philippine Islands which are under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes may also be performed in accordance with the rites and practices of their religion, if they have any, or with tribal customs if not, and are likewise exempt from the formal requirements of said Chapter. Persons solemnizing marriages in accordance with this paragraph shall not be obliged to comply with the provisions of section thirty-four of this Act.
However, twenty years after the approval of this Act, all marriages performed between Mohammedans or pagans shall be solemnized in accordance with the provisions of Chapter I hereof, and all other provisions of this Act shall be in full force and effect. But the Governor-General, upon recommendation by the Secretary of the Interior, may at any time before the expiration of said period, by proclamation, make any or all of the provisions of Chapter I of this Act applicable to the Mohammedan and Non-Christian inhabitants of any of the provinces under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of non-Christian Tribes when the state of culture and civilization of the Mohammedan or pagan inhabitants of said provinces shall warrant it.
Section 26. Mixed marriages between Christians and Mohammedans or pagans.-Mixed marriages between a Christian male and a Mohammedan or pagan female shall be governed by the general provisions of this Act and not by those of the last preceding section, but mixed marriages between a Mohammedan or pagan male and a Christian female may be performed under the provisions of the last preceding section if so desired by the contracting parties, subject, however, in the latter case to the provisions of the last paragraph of said section.
CHAPTER III
CAUSES FOR ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE
Section 27. Failure to comply with formal requirements.-No marriage shall be declared invalid because of the absence of one or several of the formal requirements of this Act if, when it was performed, the spouses or one of them believed in good faith that the person who solemnized the marriage was actually empowered to do so and that the marriage was perfectly legal.
Section 28. Incestuous marriages.-Marriages between the following are incestuous and void from their performance, whether the relationship between the parties be legitimate or illegitimate:
(a) Between ascendants and descendants of any degree;
(b) Between brothers and sisters, including stepmothers and stepsisters;
(c) Between uncles and nieces and aunts and nephews by consanguinity up to the third civil degree.
Marriages between the following shall also be considered void:
(a) Between stepfathers and stepdaughters and stepmothers and stepsons;
(b) Between the adopting father or mother and the adopted; between the latter and the surviving spouse of the former, and between the former and the surviving spouse of the latter;
(c) Between the legitimate children of the adopter and the adopted;
(d) Between those who have been condemned as authors, or as the author and accomplice, of the death of the spouse of either of them.
Section 29. Illegal marriages.-Any marriage subsequently contracted by any person during the lifetime of the first spouse of such person with any person other than such first spouse shall be illegal and void from its performance, unless:
(a) The first marriage was annulled or dissolved;
(b) The first spouse had been absent for seven consecutive years at the time of the second marriage without the spouse present having news of the absentee being alive, or the absentee being generally considered as dead and believed to be so by the spouse present at the time of contracting such subsequent marriage, the marriage so contracted being valid in either case until declared null and void by a competent court.
Section 30. Annullable marriages.-A marriage may be annulled for any of the following causes, existing at the time of the marriage:
(a) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage annulled was under the age established in section two of this Act, unless, after attaining such age, such party freely cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife;
(b) That the former husband or wife of either was living and the marriage with such former husband or wife was then in force;
(c) That either party was of unsound mind, unless such party, after coming to reason, freely cohabited with the other as husband or wife;
(d) That the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards; with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as her husband or his wife, as the case may be;
(e) That the consent of either party was obtained by force, unless, the violence having disappeared, such party afterwards freely cohabited with the other as her husband or his wife, as the case may be;
(f) That either party was, at the time of marriage, physically incapable of entering into the married state, and such incapacity continues, and appears to be incurable.
Section 31. Time for filing action for decree of nullity.-The action to obtain a decree of nullity of marriage, for causes my mentioned in the preceding section, must be commenced within the periods and by the parties as follows:
(a) For causes mentioned in subdivision (a) : by the party to the marriage who was married under the age required by law, within/four years after attaining to the age established in section two of this Act; or by the father, guardian or other person having charge of such non-aged male or female, at any time before such married minor has arrived at the age established by said section.
(b) For causes mentioned in subdivision (b) : by either party during the life of the other, or by the former husband or wife.
(c) For causes mentioned in subdivision (c) : by the same spouse, or any relative or guardian of the party of unsound mind, at any time before the death of either party.
(d) For causes mentioned in subdivision (d) : by the injured party, within four years after the discovery of the fraud.
(e) For causes mentioned in subdivision (e) : by the injured party, within four years after marriage.
(f) For causes mentioned in subdivision (f) : by the injured party, within four years after marriage.
Section 32. Legitimacy of children.-When a marriage is annulled for any of the causes enumerated in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of section thirty, the children had before the decree of nullity shall be considered as legitimate.
Section 33. Care and maintenance of children.-The court shall place the children of a marriage annulled because of fraud or force under the care of the innocent party or may likewise order provision for the education and maintenance of the same to be made out of the property of the guilty party.
CHAPTER IV
AUTHORIZATION TO SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGES-REGULATIONS AND FEES
Section 34. Authorization of priests and ministers.-Every priest or minister authorized by his church, sect, or religion to solemnize marriage shall send to the Philippine National Library a sworn statement setting forth his full name and domicile, and that he is authorized by his church, sect, or religion to solemnize marriage, attaching to said statement a certified copy of his appointment. The Director of the Philippine National Library, upon receiving such sworn statement containing the information required, and being satisfied that the church, sect, or religion of the applicant in the Philippine Islands and is in good repute, shall record the name of such priest or minister in a suitable register and issue to him an authorization to solemnize marriage. Said priest or minister shall be obliged to exhibit his authorization to contracting parties, to their parents, grandparents, guardians, or persons in charge demanding the same. No priest or minister not having the required authorization may solemnize marriage.
The authorization shall be renewed on or before the first day of May of each year, upon payment of the required fee.
Section 35. Cancellation of authorization.-The Director of , the Philippine National Library shall cancel the authorization issued to a bishop, chief, priest, pastor or minister of the gospel of any denomination, church, sect, or religion, on his own initiative or at the request of an interested party, upon showing that the church, sect, or religion whose ministers have been authorized to solemnize marriage is no longer of good repute. The cancellation of the authorization granted to a priest, pastor, or minister shall likewise be ordered upon the request of the bishop, chief, or lawful authorities of the church, sect, or religion to which he belongs.
Section 36. Regulations and fees.-The Secretary of Justice, upon the recommendation of the Director of the Philippine National Library, is hereby authorized to prepare the necessary forms, to promulgate regulations for the purpose of facilitating the registration of priests and ministers of the gospel of any denomination, church, sect or religion and of enforcing the provisions of this Act. The clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila and the municipal secretaries shall be under the authority and supervision of the Director of the Philippine National Library as far as the duties imposed upon them by this Act are concerned.
The Director of the Philippine National Library shall collect from the priests and ministers of the gospel of any denomination, church, sect or religion, or from any interested person, the following fees:
| For each authorization to solemnize marriage |
P2.00 |
| For each renewal of authorization |
1.00 |
| For each cancellation of an authorization at the request of an interested party |
1.00 |
| For each certification of any entry upon the register |
1.00 |
| For issuing a duplicate of the authorization |
2.00 |
CHAPTER V
PENAL PROVISIONS
Section 37. Influencing parties in religious respects.-Any municipal secretary or clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila who directly or indirectly attempts to influence any contracting party to marry or refrain from marrying in any church, sect, or religion or before any civil authority, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not more than one month and a fine of not more than two hundred pesos.1aшphi1
Section 38. Illegal issuance or refusal of license.-Any municipal secretary or clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila who issues a marriage license unlawfully or who maliciously refuses to issue a license to a person entitled thereto or fails to issue the same within twenty-four hours after the time when, according to law, it was proper to issue the same, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than two years, or by a fine of not less than two hundred pesos nor more than two thousand pesos.
Section 39. Illegal solemnization of marriage.-Any priest or minister solemnizing marriage without being authorized by the Director of the Philippine National Library or who, upon solemnizing marriage, refuses to exhibit his authorization in force when called upon to do so by the parties or parents, grandparents, guardians, or persons having charge; and any bishop or officer, priest, or minister of any church, religion or sect the regulations and practices whereof require banns or publications previous to the solemnization of a marriage in accordance with section ten, who authorizes the immediate solemnization of a marriage that is subsequently declared illegal; or any officer, priest or minister solemnizing marriage in violation of the provisions of this Act, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than two years, or by a fine of not less than two hundred pesos nor more than two thousand pesos.
Section 40. Marriages in improper places.-Any officer, minister, or priest solemnizing marriage in a place other than those authorized by this Act, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five pesos nor more than three hundred pesos, or by imprisonment for not more than one month, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 41. Failure to deliver marriage certificate.-Any officer, priest, or minister failing to deliver to either of the contracting parties one of the copies of the marriage contract or to forward the other copy to the authorities within the period fixed by law for said purpose, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one month or by a fine of not more than three hundred pesos, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 42. Affidavit on marriage "in articulo mortis."-Any officer, priest, or minister who, having solemnized a marriage in articulo mortis or any other marriage of an exceptional character, shall fail to comply with the provisions of Chapter II of this Act, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than two years, or by a fine of not less than three hundred pesos nor more than two thousand pesos, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 43. Unlawful signboards.-Any person who, not being authorized to solemnize marriage, shall publicly advertise himself, by means of signs or placards placed oil his residence or office or through the newspapers, as authorized to solemnize marriage, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than two years, or by a fine of not less than fifty pesos nor more than two thousand pesos, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 44. General penal clause.-Any violation of any provision of this Act not specifically penalized, or of the regulations to be promulgated by the proper authorities, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred pesos or by imprisonment for not more than one month, or both in the discretion of the court
Section 45. Disqualification of priests and ministers.-Any priest or minister of the gospel of any denomination, church, sect, or religion convicted of the violation of any of the provisions of this Act or of any crime involving moral turpitude, shall, in addition to the penalties incurred in each case, be permanently disqualified to solemnize marriage.
CHAPTER VI
FINAL PROVISIONS
Section 46. Repealing clause.-General Orders, Numbered Sixty-eight, issued by the Office of the United States Military Governor in the Philippine Islands on December eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-one of the Philippine Commission, Act Numbered Thirty-four hundred and twelve of the Philippine Legislature, and all other acts and provisions of law inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Section 47. Effective date.-This Act shall take effect six months after its approval.
Approved, December 4, 1929.
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