Text of the provision
Art. 56. The petition for legal separation shall be denied on any of the following grounds:
(1) Where the aggrieved party has condoned the offense or act complained of;
(2) Where the aggrieved party has consented to the commission of the offense or act complained of;
(3) Where there is connivance between the parties in the commission of the offense or act constituting the ground for legal separation;
(4) Where both parties have given ground for legal separation;
(5) Where there is collusion between the parties to obtain decree of legal separation; or
(6) Where the action is barred by prescription.
(100a)
Family Code of the Philippines, Executive Order No. 209, approved July 6, 1987. The Code took effect on August 3, 1988 (Republic v. Orbecido III, G.R. No. 154380, October 5, 2005). Reproduced in full.
What this article means
Where Article 55 lists the grounds for legal separation, Article 56 lists the six defenses that defeat it. Even a petitioner with a valid ground under Article 55 will be denied a decree if any of these applies. They exist because the State is a party in interest to every marriage — legal separation is not available simply because both spouses want it.
The six fall into recognisable groups. Condonation (1) is forgiveness: the aggrieved spouse who resumes marital life after learning of the offence has forgiven it. Consent (2) is agreement in advance. Connivance (3) is actively helping bring the offence about. Mutual guilt (4) — where both spouses have given a ground — leaves neither an "innocent" party. Collusion (5) is an agreement to fabricate or stage a ground. And prescription (6) is simply running out of time under Article 57.
Why the Code is built this way
Grounds (2), (3) and (5) — consent, connivance and collusion — all target the same danger: spouses manufacturing a separation the law does not otherwise allow. That is also why Article 60 forbids a decree based on a mere stipulation of facts or confession of judgment, and why the prosecuting attorney is ordered to guard against collusion. Legal separation must be proved, adversarially, not agreed to.
Related provisions
- Article 55 — the grounds these defenses defeat.
- Article 57 — the five-year prescriptive period behind ground (6).
- Article 60 — the bar on decrees by stipulation or confession, guarding against collusion.
Cases interpreting this article
- The leading authorities on condonation and consent as defenses to legal separation will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.