1. Overview

In Philippine law, marriage is monogamous and permanent, except as otherwise allowed under Muslim personal laws. As a rule, no one who is still validly married may contract another marriage, even if:

The first (legal) spouse knows about it, or
The first spouse consents to it, or even
The first spouse joins in the application or “waives” objections.

A second marriage while a prior valid marriage subsists is generally:

Void from the beginning under the Family Code, and
A crime of bigamy under the Revised Penal Code.

This article focuses on the situation where a person, still legally married, tries to apply for a marriage license for a second marriage, allegedly with spouse’s consent, and discusses why that consent has practically no legal effect under general civil law, what liabilities may arise, and what lawful options exist instead.

(Note: This is general legal information, not legal advice. For any concrete case, consultation with a Philippine lawyer is essential.)

2. Legal Framework

2.1 Family Code: Monogamy and Validity of Marriage

Key principles:

Marriage is between two persons who are capacitated by law and who consent freely.
A person who is already validly married is not capacitated to marry again, unless the first marriage has been:
- Annulled or declared void by a final judgment and properly recorded; or
- Terminated by death (including presumptive death under Article 41).

Under the Family Code, a bigamous marriage (a subsequent marriage while a prior valid marriage still exists) is generally void ab initio. It produces no civil effects between the parties, except those provided by law for the protection of children and sometimes in favor of an innocent party.

2.2 Revised Penal Code: Bigamy as a Crime

Article on Bigamy (summarized):

A person commits bigamy when:

He or she contracts a second or subsequent marriage;
The first marriage is valid and still subsisting;
The second marriage would have been valid were it not for the existing first marriage; and
The marriage is contracted in the Philippines, or by a Filipino abroad under applicable law.

Important consequence:

Bigamy is a public crime. It may be prosecuted even if the first spouse consents or does not complain. Consent does not legalize the act nor extinguish criminal liability.

3. Marriage License Applications: Basic Mechanics

To contract a valid civil marriage (non-Muslim, non-customary), parties must:

Apply for a marriage license at the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) of the place where either of them resides;
Submit documents such as:
- Proof of identity and age;
- Certificates such as CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) where required;
- Parental consent or advice, if applicable;
Sign an application form stating civil status: single, widowed, divorced (recognized in limited cases), annulled, etc.

The law presumes that only persons legally free to marry may be issued a marriage license. The LCR is not just a clerk; it is a public authority tasked with ensuring compliance with the law.

4. Applying for a Marriage License While Still Married

4.1 Theoretical Scenarios

Imagine a person, X, who is still legally married to Y, but wants to marry Z. Some variants:

Scenario A: X claims to be "single" in the application, hides the first marriage, no one objects.
Scenario B: X discloses the first marriage but insists that Y (first spouse) consents, possibly attaching a sworn consent.
Scenario C: Y personally appears and signs a “Consent of Spouse to Second Marriage” or similar document.

Under Philippine civil law, these all face the same basic legal barrier:

As long as X’s first marriage to Y has not been legally dissolved or declared void, X is not free to marry, and the LCR cannot lawfully issue a license for a second marriage (except where Muslim personal laws validly apply).

4.2 Role and Duty of the Local Civil Registrar

The LCR is expected to:

Examine the application and documentary requirements;
Refuse issuance of a marriage license if the applicant is clearly disqualified (e.g., still married and no final court decree showing capacity to remarry);
Require documentary proof of capacity to remarry, such as:
- Death certificate of prior spouse;
- Final decree of annulment, nullity, or divorce (if recognized) and compliance with registration requirements.

If a registrant knows that one applicant is still married but issues a license anyway, the registrar may be exposed to:

Administrative liability (for neglect or misconduct); and possibly
Criminal liability if there is conspiracy, falsification, or other related crimes.

5. Effect of Spouse Consent: Civil and Criminal Aspects

5.1 Consent Does Not Cure Bigamy

In civil law, the first spouse’s consent:

Does not create capacity to marry a second spouse;
Does not render the second marriage valid;
Does not change the fact that the second marriage is void and bigamous.

Capacity to marry is a matter of status, regulated by law; it is not an individual right that can be waived by private agreement.

5.2 Consent Does Not Erase Criminal Liability

In criminal law, the elements of bigamy do not include deceit or lack of knowledge by the spouse. Thus:

A spouse who knows about and even encourages the second marriage does not make it lawful.
Bigamy can be prosecuted even if the first spouse is a consenting party, or even if that spouse refuses to testify.
Consent is not a valid defense to bigamy. At most, in some situations, a judge might consider the circumstances in sentencing or in assessing moral blame, but the crime remains.

The Philippines considers marriage and family relations as matters of public order and policy. Hence:

Parties cannot, by mutual agreement, authorize what the law explicitly prohibits.

6. Falsification and Other Related Offenses

Often, bigamous marriages are accompanied by other unlawful acts involving the marriage license application itself.

6.1 False Statements in the Application

When an applicant declares in the license application that he or she is:

“Single” despite being married; or
“Widowed” without the prior spouse being actually deceased; or
“Annulled” or “divorced” without a valid, final, and recognized court decree;

this may constitute:

Falsification of a public document;
Perjury (false affirmation under oath).

These are separate crimes from bigamy.

6.2 Liability of the Consenting Spouse

The consenting first spouse may be:

A possible co-conspirator or accomplice if he or she helps falsify documents or participates in the bigamous act;
Still considered a legal spouse in the eyes of the law, despite personal consent to the second marriage.

7. Special Note: Muslim Personal Laws and Polygamy

The above discussion applies to civil marriages governed by the Family Code, which presumes monogamy.

The Philippines also has Muslim personal laws (Presidential Decree No. 1083), which:

Allow a Muslim male to have more than one wife under strict conditions;
Require compliance with substantive and procedural requirements, including consent in certain cases, financial capability, and approval by the Shari’a court in some circumstances.

Key points:

Where PD 1083 validly applies (to qualified Muslims), polygyny is not “bigamy” in the criminal sense, because the law itself authorizes it.
A non-Muslim cannot simply invoke PD 1083 to bypass the monogamous regime of the Family Code.
A Muslim marriage and its registration follow a different procedural track from a standard civil marriage license, so the “bigamous marriage license with spouse consent” scenario must be carefully distinguished from lawful polygyny under Muslim law.

8. Exceptions and Lawful Routes to Remarry

If a spouse truly wishes to marry someone else, the lawful routes are:

8.1 Death or Presumptive Death of Prior Spouse

If the prior spouse actually dies, the surviving spouse becomes capacitated to remarry upon proof of death.
If the prior spouse is absent and presumed dead under Article 41 of the Family Code:
- The present spouse must obtain a court declaration of presumptive death after meeting the legal requirements (e.g., 4 years of absence, or 2 years in danger-of-death situations, plus diligent search and well-founded belief of death).
- After the court issues a decision and it becomes final and properly recorded, the spouse may lawfully remarry.

8.2 Annulment or Declaration of Nullity

If the prior marriage suffers from a defect or ground for nullity/annulment (e.g., psychological incapacity, lack of essential requisites, vitiated consent, absence of a valid marriage license in required cases, etc.), the parties must:

File a petition for annulment or declaration of nullity;
Obtain a final court judgment declaring the marriage annulled or void;
Ensure proper registration of the decision in the civil registry to make it effective against third persons; and
Only then apply for a new marriage license.

8.3 Foreign Divorce (Article 26, Second Paragraph)

In cases where:

A Filipino is married to a foreigner, and
The foreigner obtains a valid foreign divorce that allows the foreigner to remarry,

the Filipino spouse may, subject to jurisprudential rules, recognize this foreign divorce through court or administrative processes, and thereby regain capacity to remarry.

Again, formal legal recognition is crucial. One cannot simply say “we’re divorced abroad” and remarry without the required recognition, or it risks being treated as bigamy.

9. Consequences of a Bigamous Marriage

If a bigamous marriage is contracted—whether or not the first spouse consented—the legal consequences include:

9.1 Civil Effects

The second marriage is void ab initio (from the start).
Property relations between the parties to the void marriage may be governed by rules on co-ownership and donations between persons in illicit relationships, depending on good faith or bad faith.
Children of the void marriage may be considered legitimate or illegitimate depending on the specific legal grounds and circumstances; Philippine law often provides protections to children regardless of the parents’ faults.
The parties might still need a judicial declaration of nullity to settle civil registry and property issues, even though the marriage is void.

9.2 Criminal Liability

The spouse who contracted a second marriage while the first is still valid risks prosecution for bigamy.
Falsifications and related offenses can also be charged.
The existence of spouse consent does not prevent conviction but could be raised in mitigation under very limited circumstances.

10. Bigamous License Applications in Practice

In actual practice, a “bigamous marriage license application with spouse consent” often plays out in these ways:

LCR Rejects the Application The registrar, upon discovering the subsisting marriage in the PSA records or from documents, refuses to issue a license even if a “consent of spouse” is attached.
Parties Conceal the Prior Marriage To bypass this, parties lie on the form, presenting themselves as single, widowed, or divorced. This gives rise to bigamy plus falsification if they proceed with a second marriage.
Marriages Without License Some attempt to circumvent the process via religious or customary ceremonies without a marriage license and later try to register the union. If eventually registered through falsified documents, similar legal risks arise.
Later Litigation Disputes later arise over:
- Validity of the second marriage;
- Property rights;
- Status of children;
- Criminal complaints (bigamy, falsification).

Courts will then dissect whether the first marriage was valid and subsisting, whether there was a proper dissolution, and whether the second marriage meets the requirements of law. Consent of the first spouse, as such, rarely plays a decisive role in validating the second marriage.

11. Practical Takeaways

No such thing as “legal bigamy by consent” Under Philippine civil and criminal law (outside narrowly defined Muslim personal law), you cannot validly remarry just because your spouse says it’s okay.
LCR cannot lawfully issue a marriage license If one applicant is clearly still married and has no final decree or recognized cause to remarry, the LCR must refuse the license, regardless of any spousal consent document.
Consent does not erase bigamy Even if the first spouse assists or agrees, the second marriage can still be:
- Void, and
- A basis for criminal liability.
Lawful options require court or legal processes
- Annulment or declaration of nullity;
- Judicial declaration of presumptive death;
- Valid foreign divorce properly recognized; or
- Actual death of the prior spouse.
Seek legal counsel Anyone considering remarriage in complex circumstances—especially where a prior marriage exists—should consult a Philippine lawyer before attempting any marriage license application. Missteps can have serious, long-term civil and criminal consequences.

If you’d like, I can next:

Draft a sample legal memorandum analyzing a hypothetical bigamy scenario; or
Prepare a client advisory/FAQ in simpler language for non-lawyers about why “spouse-consented bigamy” doesn’t work under Philippine law.