Facts:

Issues:
Bigamy – elements
Simulated marriage
No marriage ceremony
Question of lack of marriage license
No consent and knowledge

NECESSITY: (reason why marriage by proxy is not allowed)

Counter-argument:
Article 40 – Judicial Dec of Nullity
If a person knew that his existing marriage is void and such person wishes to remarry, the only way by which the subsequent
marriage can be valid is for him to first obtain a judicial order declaring the previous marriage void. Without the judicial
declaration, the subsequent marriage is likewise void.
Answer:
Simulated marriage contract
Republic v Olaybar

Art 349 elements of bigamy:

1. Offender has been legally married
2. First marriage has not been legally dissolved or in case his or her spouse is absent, the absent spouse could not yet be
presumed dead according to the CC
3. That he contracts a second or subsequent marriage and
4. That the second or subsequent marriage has all the essential requisites for validity

De Castro v De Castro
Under the Family Code, the absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab
initio, whereas a defect in any of the essential requisites shall render the marriage voidable. In the instant case, it is
clear from the evidence presented that petitioner and respondent did not have a marriage license when they
contracted their marriage.

Morigo V People
In the instant case, however, no marriage ceremony at all was performed by a duly authorized solemnizing officer.
Lucio Morigo and Lucia Barrete merely signed a marriage contract on their own. The mere private act of signing a
marriage contract bears no semblance to a valid marriage.
Such act alone, without more, cannot be deemed to constitute an ostensibly valid marriage for which Lucio might be
held liable for bigamy unless he first secures a judicial declaration of nullity before he contracts a subsequent
marriage. The law abhors an injustice and the Court is mandated to liberally construe a penal statute in favor of an
accused and weigh every circumstance in favor of the presumption of innocence to ensure that justice is done. Under
the circumstances of the present case, Supreme Court held that petitioner has not committed bigamy

NO COMMON LAW MARRIAGE ALLOWED.

A man and a woman who cohabit without a marriage ceremony may be considered legally married in common-law jurisdictions
but not in the Philippines (Eugenio, Sr., vs. Velez)

Article 3
Formal requisites:
(1) Authority of the solemnizing officer
(2) Valid marriage license
(3) Valid marriage ceremony

ARANES V JUDGE OCCIANO

In People v Lara, it was held that a marriage which preceded the issuance of the marriage license is void and that the subsequent
issuance of license cannot render valid or even add an iota of validity to the marriage.