Article 45, Family Code of the Philippines: Voidable Marriages

Article 45: A marriage may be annulled for any of the following causes, existing at the time of marriage.

1.) That the party on whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage annulled was eighteen years of age or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage was solemnized without the consent of the parents, guardians or person having substitute parental authority over the party, in that order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife;

2.) That either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to reason, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;

3.) That the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterward, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;

4.) That the consent of either party by force, intimidation or undue influence, unless the same having disappeared or ceased, such party thereafter freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife.

5.) That either party was physically incapable of consummating that the marriage with the other, and as such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable; or

6.) That either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease (STD) found to be serious and appears to be incurable.


Annulment is a court proceeding with the objective severing marital relations between husband and wife. A petition for an annulment of a marriage is filed when the marriage is considered voidable or if it is valid but is susceptible of being voided pursuant to the grounds provided by the law.

A petition for annulment of marriage in the Philippines can be therefore be filed on the following grounds as provided under this article and in order that the case may prosper, the party alleging the existence of the grounds mentioned earlier must be proved:
1. Lack of parental consent
2. Insanity
3. Consent is obtained thru fraud
4. Consent is obtained thru force, intimidation, and undue influence
5. Impotence
6. STDs

Paragraph 3 of the Article refers to impotency. Impotency is the incapability of procreation. In here, the incapability must continue to be so and appears to be incurable. Impotence is a common problem among men and is characterized by the consistent inability to sustain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse or the inability to achieve ejaculation or both. In order that it can be used as a ground for annulment, one must prove its existence at the time of the marriage, appears to be incurable and continues to cause the inability of copulate. Sterility, however, is not contemplated by the law, for even if a person is sterile, he can still perform acts of copulation. 

Case: Sarao v. Gueverra, G.R. No. 47603, 40 O.G. 263 (CA)

 With regards to threat or intimidation, the law provides that it must be of such nature to prevent the party upon whom it is employed from acting as a free agent, his will being coerced by fear or compulsion (i.e that one of the parties executes a contract or performs an act against his will under pressure which  he can not resist.[Reyes vs. Zaballero])

Rules on voidable Marriages:

a.) Voidable marriages are valid until annulled. It is not the same as void ab initio or void from the beginning since these marriages are valid ab initio, but due to some grounds, like it can be subjected to annulment. They may suffer infirmities but it can be ratified.

b.) A marriage contracted between persons at ages 18 but below 21 without the consent of their parents or guardian is merely voidable. 
1.) If it is the party to the marriage who would file the action, it must be done by him/her within 5 years after attaining the age of 21.
2.) If it is the parent or guardian who should file it, then, it should be done at any time before the party reaches the age of 21 [Art. 47 Family Code].

These voidable marriages can be cured or cleansed of their defect by the act of the parties of freely cohabiting with one another, after the party whose parents or guardians who did not give consent to the marriage, reached the aged of 21.

In the case of insanity, the period to file action is different. The same spouse who had no knowledge of the of the other spouse’s insanity or the relative or guardian of the insane, must file the action to have the marriage annulled should be at any time before the death of either party, or by the insane spouse during a lucid interval or after regaining sanity [Art. 47 (2), Family Code)].

Also, with regard to paragraph 3 above, any of the following circumstances shall constitute fraud:

a.) Non-disclosure of a previous conviction by final judgment of the other party of a crime involving moral turpitude.

b.) Concealment by the wife of the fact that at the time of the marriage, she was pregnant by a man other than her husband.

c.) Concealment of sexually transmissible disease, regardless of its nature, existing at the time of the marriage.

d.) Concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism or homosexuality or lesbianism existing at the time of the marriage.

References:
Family Code of the Phils. by Albano et al