Text of the provision

Art. 9. A marriage license shall be issued by the local civil registrar of the city or municipality where either contracting party habitually resides, except in marriages where no license is required in accordance with Chapter 2 of this Title

(58a)

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 9 fixes which local civil registrar may issue a marriage license: the registrar of the city or municipality where either contracting party habitually resides — not necessarily where the wedding itself will take place. This does not apply to marriages exempt from the license requirement under Chapter 2 (articulo mortis, remote residence, Muslim and ethnic-community customs, and five years' cohabitation), which need no license from any registrar at all.

Because either party's residence will do, couples from different cities or municipalities have a choice of registrar, so long as the application also satisfies the residency-based documentary requirements in the articles that follow.

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Cases citing this article

Compiled automatically from Supreme Court decisions published on LawPhil that expressly cite this article, most frequently cited first. A listing means the decision cites the provision — it is not a statement that the case is the leading authority, and it does not show whether a ruling has since been modified or abandoned. Always read the decision itself.

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.