Short answer. Yes. Civil Code Article 408 lists judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning as one of the entries the civil register must record, separately from annulments of marriage, which the same article also lists. Your judgment needs to be entered in the registry regardless of which category it falls under.
What the law says
judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning
Civil Code, Article 408 — What the Civil Register Records. Read the full provision →
Article 408 names this entry specifically
Article 408 lists the events and records that shall be entered in the civil register, running from births and marriages through deaths, legal separations, adoptions, and several other categories. Two of those entries deal directly with marriages that did not last: (5) annulments of marriage; (6) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning. The article treats these as separate, named items on the list, not as one general category covering any judgment that ends a marriage.
Why the distinction between the two entries matters
Annulment and a declaration of nullity are legally different outcomes: an annulment concerns a marriage that was voidable, meaning it existed and produced legal effects until the annulment judgment set it aside, while a judgment declaring a marriage void from the beginning treats the marriage as never having had legal existence in the first place. Article 408 recognizes that difference by listing them as two distinct entries rather than folding a declaration of nullity into the entry for annulments. Both, however, are entries the civil register is required to record.
What this means for your judgment
Because your situation involves a court declaring the marriage void from the beginning rather than annulling it, the entry that applies to you is item six on the list, not item five. Either way, the article's basic instruction is the same: this is one of the specific judgments the civil register is required to enter, alongside births, marriages, deaths, and the other listed events. A judgment of this kind does not sit outside the civil registration system just because it is a declaration of nullity rather than an annulment.
Why the civil register keeps track of this at all
The civil register exists to maintain an accurate, official record of a person's civil status, and marriage sits at the center of that record because so much else, from succession to property relations, depends on knowing whether someone is married. A judgment that changes that status, whether by annulling a marriage or by declaring one void from the beginning, is exactly the kind of event the register is meant to capture, so that the official record reflects the person's actual civil status going forward rather than continuing to show a marriage a court has already resolved.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Feliciano Palad Legaspi, Sr. vs. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 241986, August 22, 2022 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Francis Luigi G. Santos vs. Republic of the Philippines, The Office of the Local, G.R. No. 250520, May 5, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Republic of the Philippines, represented by the Special Committee on Naturalization (SCN) vs. Winston, G.R. No. 205218 / G.R. No. 207075, February 10, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- May D. Añonuevo, et al. vs. Intestate of Rodolfo G. Jalandoni, represented by Bernardino G. Jalandoni as Special Administrator, G.R. No. 178221, December 1, 2010 — read the decision on LawPhil →