Q.Good day. I just want to get some advice regarding my failed marriage. I had a civil marriage last February 1998 . My relationship with my wife lasted only for a year. She went back to the Philippines with my son sometime in 1999 . Since then I did not have any contact with them. I did all the means and ways to reach them but it is all in vain.
For more than six years of waiting I believed my wife will resurface and come back to me. I cannot wait for her indefinitely . Life has to go on. My questions are , is it legal for me to get married the second time around here in Singapore without any legal documents? Is there a Philippine law that will allow me to have a family once again ?
I hope you can give me some advice and the right steps for me to have a family again.
Thank you and best wishes. Yours truly, G .
A. As Filipino citizen, your status and legal capacity are governed by the laws of the Philippines. Being legally married in a civil ceremony and with a subsisting marriage, you cannot contract a subsequent marriage unless, the existing marriage is first annulled or is declared as null and void by the court .
There are legal remedies that you can avail to address your situation. However, you have to go court and file the necessary petitions. Either for annulment of your marriage based on the failure of your spouse to comply with her marital obligations on the ground of Psychological incapacity, under Article 36 of the Family Code.
The other legal remedy is to file a petition in court for declaration of Presumptive Death of your spouse, considering that according to you, you have not heard from each other since 1999, after your wife left you in Singapore for the Philippines with your son.
Under the law, prolong absence of a spouse whose whereabouts cannot be ascertained could raise a presumption of death. Where a spouse is absent for four(4) consecutive years and the other spouse present has a well-founded belief that the absentee spouse might be dead or the danger of death in such disappearance was apparent, the absence of two(2) years is sufficient to engender the presumption of death for purposes of contracting a subsequent marriage or remarriage.
Moreover, the four(4) consecutive years of absence is reduced to two years where the missing spouse was missing on board a vessel during sea voyage, or an airplane, the person missing is a member of the Armed Forces who has taken part in the war , or the missing person has been in danger of death under such circumstances.( Art. 41- Family Code, as amended).
Under this remedy(Declaration of Presumptive Death), when a spouse has been absent or presumed dead under Art.41 of the Family Code, and the spouse present wish to contract another marriage, the law requires that one must first secure a judicial order for the Declaration of Presumptive Death. Failing to do so will render the subsequent marriage null and void. However, the subsequent marriage is automatically terminated when the absentee spouse turn out to be alive; and with the recording of an affidavit of reappearance in the Civil Registry by the absent spouse. And if this will happen, you cannot be prosecuted for bigamy.
I suggest you confer with your lawyer in the Philippines, who can professionally provide you with the necessary assistance . Thank you for writing and good luck.
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