Text of the provision

Art. 6. No prescribed form or religious rite for the solemnization of the marriage is required. It shall be necessary, however, for the contracting parties to appear personally before the solemnizing officer and declare in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age that they take each other as husband and wife. This declaration shall be contained in the marriage certificate which shall be signed by the contracting parties and their witnesses and attested by the solemnizing officer.

In case of a marriage in articulo mortis, when the party at the point of death is unable to sign the marriage certificate, it shall be sufficient for one of the witnesses to the marriage to write the name of said party, which fact shall be attested by the solemnizing officer.

(55a)

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

Article 6 sets the actual form of the marriage ceremony — one of the formal requisites named in Article 3. No particular religious rite is required; what the law insists on is personal appearance of both parties before the solemnizing officer and a declaration, before at least two witnesses of legal age, that they take each other as husband and wife. That declaration is then recorded in the marriage certificate, signed by the parties, the witnesses, and the officer.

The article makes one accommodation for a marriage in articulo mortis (at the point of death): if the dying party cannot sign, a witness may write that party's name instead, attested by the officer.

Related provisions

Cases interpreting this article

Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment. The annotation, case summaries and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. Whether this provision applies to a particular marriage depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your situation can assess.