The Philippines is one of the few jurisdictions worldwide that still mandates a compulsory 10-day publication period for marriage license applications under the Family Code. This requirement, commonly referred to as the “10-day waiting period,” is not a mere administrative delay but a substantive public notice mechanism designed to allow any person with knowledge of a legal impediment to come forward and oppose the intended marriage. The precise starting date of this period is therefore critical, as it determines when the local civil registrar may lawfully issue the marriage license.
Legal Basis
The rule is contained in Articles 17 and 20 of the Family Code of the Philippines (Executive Order No. 209, as amended):
Article 17. The local civil registrar, upon receiving such application, shall require the presentation of the original birth certificates or baptismal certificates of the contracting parties… After the requirements have been complied with, the local civil registrar shall post a notice containing the full names, residences, and other required data of the applicants in a conspicuous place in the municipal building for ten (10) consecutive days.
Article 20. The license shall be issued after the completion of the period of publication.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the 10-day posting is mandatory and goes into the validity of the issuance of the license (Republic v. Court of Appeals and Castro, G.R. No. 103047, September 12, 1994; Alcantara v. Alcantara, G.R. No. 167746, August 28, 2007, reiterated in subsequent cases).
When Does the 10-Day Period Commence?
The 10-day publication period starts on the date the notice is actually posted by the local civil registrar in a conspicuous place in the city or municipal hall (usually the bulletin board of the Office of the Civil Registrar).
It does not automatically start on the date the couple files the application or pays the fees.
Practical Timeline in Most Local Civil Registries
- Couple submits complete application and documents (usually morning or early afternoon).
- LCR personnel encode the data and prepare the notice.
- The notice is physically posted on the bulletin board the same day or, if submitted very late, the next working day.
- The date indicated on the posted notice is considered the official starting date.
- The notice remains posted for ten (10) full consecutive calendar days (including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays).
Thus, while in the overwhelming majority of cases the posting occurs on the same day as filing, the controlling date is the actual posting date, not the filing date.
Office of the Civil Registrar-General (OCRG) / PSA Guidelines
OCRG Circular No. 2005-08 and subsequent administrative issuances uniformly state:
“The ten (10)-day posting period shall be reckoned from the date of posting of the notice as indicated thereon.”
Local civil registrars are required to indicate the posting date on the notice itself and to log it in the Application for Marriage License Register (Civil Registry Form No. 97).
Computation of the 10-Day Period
- The period is counted in calendar days, not working days.
- The first day is the date of posting (Day 1).
- The notice must remain posted up to and including the 10th day.
- The marriage license may only be released starting on the 11th day after posting.
Example:
| Posting Date | Last Day of Posting | Earliest Release of License |
|---|---|---|
| December 2, 2025 (Tuesday) | December 11, 2025 (Thursday) | December 12, 2025 (Friday) |
| December 24, 2025 (Wednesday) | January 2, 2026 (Friday) | January 3, 2026 (Saturday) |
Even if the 10th day falls on a holiday, the notice is deemed posted (since the bulletin board is public), and the license may be claimed on the next working day if the office is closed, but the legal waiting period has already lapsed.
Exceptions Where the 10-Day Publication Is Not Required
- Marriage in articulo mortis (Art. 27–31, Family Code) – when one party is at the point of death.
- Marriage of a man and woman who have lived together as husband and wife for at least five years and without legal impediment (Art. 34) – affidavit of cohabitation suffices; no license needed.
- Marriages solemnized by ship captains, airplane chiefs, or military commanders in the exceptional circumstances provided by law (Arts. 31–32).
- Marriages of indigenous cultural communities performed according to their customary laws (provided registered with the civil registrar within 30 days).
- Muslim marriages under Presidential Decree No. 1083 (Code of Muslim Personal Laws) – governed by Shari’a circuit registrars; no civil marriage license required when both parties are Muslims.
For all other cases, including marriages involving one or two foreigners, the 10-day publication is mandatory (OCRG Circular No. 2010-1; confirmed in Cosca v. Palaypayon, A.M. No. MTJ-92-721, November 15, 1994).
Consequences of Premature Issuance of License
A marriage license issued before the lapse of the 10-day posting period is irregularly issued. However, Philippine jurisprudence consistently holds that such irregularity does not affect the validity of the subsequent marriage as long as the essential and formal requisites under Articles 2 and 3 of the Family Code were complied with (Moreno v. Bernabe, G.R. No. 241373, June 17, 2020, citing People v. Borromeo and subsequent cases).
The irregularity may, however, subject the erring local civil registrar to administrative or even criminal liability under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code (libel, because premature issuance defeats the purpose of public notice) or Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).
Current Practice as of December 2025
Despite occasional proposals in Congress to abolish or shorten the 10-day period (e.g., House Bill No. 2503 filed in the 19th Congress), the requirement remains fully in force. The Philippine Statistics Authority–Civil Registration Service continues to enforce strict compliance. Many local government units have digitized the posting (photo of the notice with timestamp uploaded to their official Facebook page or website), but physical posting in the city/municipal hall remains mandatory.
Conclusion
The 10-day publication period for marriage license applications in the Philippines commences on the date the local civil registrar actually posts the notice in a conspicuous place in the government building, as indicated on the notice itself. While in practice this almost always coincides with the filing date, couples and solemnizing officers must verify the exact posting date to ensure the license is validly issued only after the full 10 calendar days have elapsed. This long-standing requirement, rooted in public policy to prevent bigamous and otherwise illegal unions, continues to be one of the distinctive features of Philippine family law.