Salary Garnishment After Acquittal Philippines

I. Overview

In the Philippines, your civil status (single, married, widowed, divorced*, annulled) is a legal fact reflected in civil registry documents kept by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

You do not go to PSA and say “please change my civil status to married” in the abstract. Instead, your civil status is updated by operation of law when a valid marriage is registered in the civil registry and transmitted to PSA.

So, “updating civil status to married” really means:

  1. Ensuring your marriage is valid under Philippine law;
  2. Ensuring the marriage is duly registered (Philippines: Local Civil Registry; Abroad: Report of Marriage);
  3. Understanding how that affects your PSA records (birth certificate, CENOMAR → CEMAR, etc.);
  4. Knowing how to correct errors or deal with special situations (wrong entries, late registration, foreign divorce, etc.).

II. Legal Framework

  1. Family Code of the Philippines

    • Governs validity of marriage, capacity of parties, consent, formal and essential requisites, grounds for nullity/annulment, and effects of marriage (property relations, use of surname, legitimacy of children, etc.).
    • A valid marriage under the Family Code is what creates the civil status of “married.”

  2. Civil Registry Laws & PSA’s Role

    • All births, marriages, and deaths must be registered with the Local Civil Registry (LCR) of the place where they occur (or via Philippine Embassy/Consulate if abroad).
    • The LCR transmits records to PSA, which becomes the central repository and issues certified copies (your “PSA copy”).

  3. RA 9048 and RA 10172

    • RA 9048: Allows correction of clerical or typographical errors and change of first name/nickname in the civil registry without a court decision.
    • RA 10172: Extends RA 9048 to corrections in day and month of birth and sex, if clearly just clerical/typographical.
    • Civil status itself (e.g., Single → Married) is not directly “edited” under RA 9048; instead, your marriage record is the legal basis for being recognized as married.

  4. Subsequent court decisions

    • Annulment, nullity of marriage, legal separation, recognition of foreign divorce, correction of substantial errors in the civil registry generally require a court or quasi-judicial decision, which becomes the basis for annotations in your PSA records.

III. How Civil Status Becomes “Married” in PSA

A. If Married in the Philippines

  1. Celebration of the Marriage

    • Marriage is celebrated by an authorized solemnizing officer (judge, priest/minister with license, mayor, etc.);
    • A Marriage Contract/Certificate is accomplished and signed.

  2. Registration with the Local Civil Registry (LCR)

    • The solemnizing officer has the legal duty to submit the marriage certificate to the LCR of the city/municipality where the marriage took place (usually within a short statutory period, often 15 days from the date of marriage if ordinary marriage, more for special cases like marriages in articulo mortis).
    • The LCR records the marriage in its civil registry book and files.

  3. Transmission to PSA

    • The LCR periodically transmits copies of civil registry documents (including marriages) to PSA.
    • Once PSA receives and encodes your marriage, you can request a PSA Marriage Certificate.

  4. Effect on civil status

    • Legally, you are married from the time a valid marriage is celebrated;
    • Practically, most agencies recognize you as married once you can produce a PSA Marriage Certificate or, in some contexts, a certified true copy from the LCR.

Civil status on your birth certificate does not change from “single” to “married” as a line item; instead, your overall PSA records (birth + marriage) speak together: you are a person whose birth is registered and who now has a PSA-registered marriage.

B. If Married Abroad (Filipino or Dual Citizen)

  1. Marriage celebrated abroad

    • If a Filipino or dual citizen marries abroad under the laws of that foreign country, the marriage can be valid under Philippine law, provided there is no legal impediment (e.g., prior existing marriage).

  2. Report of Marriage (ROM)

    • To have that foreign marriage recognized and recorded in the Philippine civil registry, the spouses must file a Report of Marriage with the Philippine Embassy/Consulate having jurisdiction over the place of marriage.
    • The Embassy/Consulate then transmits the ROM to the proper Philippine civil registry office, and ultimately to PSA.

  3. PSA record

    • Once the ROM is encoded, PSA can issue a PSA copy of the Report of Marriage (sometimes appearing similarly to a marriage certificate for PSA purposes).
    • This becomes your Philippine civil registry proof that you are married.

  4. Effect on civil status

    • Under Philippine law, the marriage is considered valid if:

      • It is valid in the place where it was celebrated; and
      • It does not violate fundamental Philippine law (e.g., bigamous marriages when the Filipino spouse is still validly married under Philippine records).

    • Once recorded through ROM and reflected at PSA, you are effectively treated as married in your Philippine records.

IV. CENOMAR, CEMAR, and Civil Status

  1. CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage)

    • A PSA-issued document that states that a person has no record of marriage in the PSA database (as of the date of search).
    • Often required before marriage, by banks, embassies, and some private entities.

  2. CEMAR (Certificate of Marriage Record)

    • Once a marriage is registered and appears in PSA’s database, a person’s CENOMAR result effectively changes:

      • It will no longer show “no marriage”; instead, it will indicate that the person has a marriage record, often in a format informally called “CEMAR.”

    • This is practical proof that your civil status is now married according to PSA records.

  3. Timing issue

    • It may take weeks or months from the date of marriage (or ROM filing) before the PSA database is updated;
    • During that gap, a person may still receive a CENOMAR showing “no record of marriage yet,” even if they are already legally married.
    • Thus, legal status and PSA database status may be temporarily out of sync; ultimately, it is the valid marriage itself that legally changes your status.

V. Surname Use and PSA Records

  1. Right to use husband’s surname (for a woman marrying a man, under Family Code rules)

    • A married woman may choose to:

      • Continue using her maiden name;
      • Use her maiden first name and maiden surname + her husband’s surname;
      • Use her husband’s full name but prefixing a word indicating she is his wife (e.g., “Mrs. Juan dela Cruz”).

    • Usage is optional; the law does not force her to abandon her maiden name.

  2. Effect on PSA records

    • The marriage certificate will show the bride’s maiden name and indicate she is married to the groom.

    • When updating identification documents (passport, PhilID, driver’s license, etc.) to married name, agencies typically require:

      • PSA Marriage Certificate;
      • Sometimes additional forms or affidavits.

    • The birth certificate remains in maiden name and is never changed to married name; instead, other IDs and records reflect the chosen married surname.

VI. Correcting or Updating Civil Status Information

Sometimes records contain errors or do not reflect actual legal status.

A. If the marriage itself is valid but not appearing in PSA

  1. Check with the LCR (Philippine marriage)

    • Confirm that the marriage certificate is registered at the LCR.
    • If registered but not in PSA, follow up on transmittal to PSA; sometimes resubmission or endorsement is needed.

  2. Follow up with the Embassy/Consulate (foreign marriage)

    • Ensure the Report of Marriage was properly filed;
    • Check if it was forwarded to the proper civil registry office in the Philippines;
    • If long delays occur, you may request status updates and, in some cases, re-transmittal.

Only when the underlying marriage record is actually in the system can PSA issue a Marriage Certificate/ROM and reflect your status as married.

B. If the PSA record contains errors (names, dates, etc.)

  1. Clerical errors

    • Misspellings of names, simple typos in dates, etc., may be corrected via RA 9048/RA 10172:

      • File a petition for correction with the LCR where the record is kept;
      • Provide supporting evidence (IDs, school records, baptismal certificates, etc.).

  2. Substantial errors affecting civil status

    • Substantial issues (e.g., whether a person is single or married, legitimacy of children, bigamy questions) often cannot be corrected administratively;
    • They usually require appropriate court actions (annulment/nullity, legitimation, recognition of foreign divorce, etc.), followed by annotation of the civil registry records based on the final judgment.

VII. Special Situations Related to “Married” Status

A. Annulment, Declaration of Nullity, Legal Separation

  1. Annulment or declaration of nullity

    • If a marriage is annulled or declared void, the court decision, once final, is registered and annotated in the civil registry and eventually in PSA records (on the marriage certificate and sometimes related birth records).
    • The person’s status may return to “single” or “single (annulled)” for practical purposes, though legal effects vary depending on nature of the decision (void vs voidable, etc.).

  2. Legal separation

    • Does not change civil status to “single”; the parties remain legally married but are separated in certain respects (e.g., bed and board, property regime).

B. Foreign divorce involving a Filipino

  1. If both parties were Filipino at the time of marriage

    • Philippine law generally does not recognize divorce between two Filipinos if obtained abroad, subject to evolving jurisprudence.
    • Civil status in PSA would generally remain “married” until an appropriate Philippine court action (e.g., declaration of nullity) is obtained.

  2. If one spouse is a foreigner and obtains a foreign divorce

    • Philippine jurisprudence allows the Filipino spouse to file a petition for recognition of foreign divorce in Philippine courts;
    • Once granted and annotated, the Filipino’s status can be updated to allow him/her to remarry under Philippine law.

C. Bigamous or invalid marriages

If a person contracts a second marriage while still married under Philippine law:

  • The second union is generally void;
  • Civil status in PSA remains married to the first spouse until annulment/nullity/other judicial processes;
  • Attempts to “update” PSA to show a second marriage may be blocked or lead to conflicting records, requiring legal action.

VIII. Practical Step-by-Step Guide

Here is a practical way to think of “updating civil status to married” in PSA terms:

  1. Ensure your marriage is valid

    • Check that all legal prerequisites (capacity, license, authorized solemnizing officer, consent) were complied with.

  2. Ensure proper registration

    • If married in the Philippines, confirm with the LCR that your marriage certificate is recorded.
    • If married abroad, file (or confirm filing of) the Report of Marriage with the Philippine Embassy/Consulate.

  3. Wait for PSA encoding / follow up

    • After a reasonable period, request a PSA Marriage Certificate or PSA ROM copy.
    • If “no record yet,” follow up with the LCR or Embassy to confirm transmittal.

  4. Check CENOMAR/CEMAR

    • Request a CENOMAR from PSA; once your marriage is in their system, it will reflect that you are already married (or show a CEMAR-type result).

  5. Update related documents

    • Once you have PSA proof of marriage, you can update:

      • SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG records;
      • PhilSys (National ID) records;
      • Passport (if changing surname);
      • Bank and employment records;
      • Insurance and beneficiary designations.

  6. Address errors, if any

    • For clerical mistakes, use RA 9048/RA 10172 processes with the LCR;
    • For substantial issues (invalid marriage, foreign divorce, etc.), consult a lawyer for possible court action and subsequent annotation at PSA.

IX. Key Takeaways

  • You don’t manually “declare” yourself married at PSA; the law and civil registry process do it for you when your valid marriage is registered.
  • Your PSA Marriage Certificate or Report of Marriage is the core proof that your civil status is “married.”
  • A CENOMAR changing to a marriage record (CEMAR) is the practical sign that PSA already reflects your marriage.
  • Corrections involve administrative petitions (for clerical errors) or court proceedings (for substantial questions like annulment, nullity, or recognition of foreign divorce).
  • Your birth certificate generally stays as it is; the fact that there is now a PSA marriage record attached to your name is what shows that you are legally married in the Philippine civil registry system.

Disclaimer: This content is not legal advice and may involve AI assistance. Information may be inaccurate.

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