repost: Annulment and bigamy

Annulment and bigamy by The Sassy Lawyer

Not to indulge in gossip but, as a lawyer, I don’t get it. If, as their oldest daughter claims and as the wife confirms, “The details of the annulment of Robin Padilla’s marriage to Liezl Sicangco in Australia are now being finalized,” then the marriages of both parties to their new partners are bigamous. And, consequently, null and void.

But weren’t they married in accordance with Shari’a Law where a man is allowed to have four wives so long as he can provide for all of them? Well, according to the second of the two linked articles above (the report is in Filipino), the Muslim marriage celebrated at the New Bilibid Prison was followed by a civil wedding. Civilly, for as long as a marriage remains valid, subsequent marriages contracted by either or both parties are deemed bigamous. So, it doesn’t matter if Robin Padilla marries Mariel Rodriquez a dozen times in different ceremonies. It would still be bigamy.

But the Indian marriage must be valid, you may say. Well, no. It does not dissolve the first valid marriage.

But they’ve been separated for years and years! Separation de facto does not automatically annul a civil marriage. The parties still have to go to court, file a petition for annulment and, only after a judicial declaration does the civil marriage end.

Personally, I don’t see the point in getting married if there is a cloud of illegitimacy hanging over the union. But, for some persons, it is the ceremony itself with the public exchange of vows rather than the legal status that counts. A simulation, no doubt, but comforting to go through anyway?

And, obviously, there are legal repercussions. Bigamy is a crime in the Philippines.

From the Revised Penal Code:

Art. 349. Bigamy. — The penalty of prision mayor shall be imposed upon any person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been legally dissolved…

So there. Why risk imprisonment when both Padilla and Sicangco want an annulment and it’s just a matter of waiting for the annulment to become finalized?

ahhhhhh, i love legal talk! :)