Marriage -Title 1; Art 12
Art. 12. The local civil registrar, upon receiving such application, shall require the presentation of the original birth certificates or, in default thereof, the baptismal certificates of the contracting parties or copies of such documents duly attested by the persons having custody of the originals. These certificates or certified copies of the documents by this Article need not be sworn to and shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax. The signature and official title of the person issuing the certificate shall be sufficient proof of its authenticity.
If either of the contracting parties is unable to produce his birth or baptismal certificate or a certified copy of either because of the destruction or loss of the original or if it is shown by an affidavit of such party or of any other person that such birth or baptismal certificate has not yet been received though the same has been required of the person having custody thereof at least fifteen days prior to the date of the application, such party may furnish in lieu thereof his current residence certificate or an instrument drawn up and sworn to before the local civil registrar concerned or any public official authorized to administer oaths. Such instrument shall contain the sworn declaration of two witnesses of lawful age, setting forth the full name, residence, and citizenship of such contracting party and of his or her parents if known, and the place and date of birth of such party. The nearest of kin of the contracting parties shall be preferred as witnesses, or, in their default, persons of good reputation in the province or the locality.
The presentation of birth or baptismal certificate shall not be required if the parents of the contracting parties appear personally before the local civil registrar concerned and swear to the correctness of the lawful age of said parties, as stated in the application, or when the local civil registrar shall, by merely looking at the applicants upon their personally appearing before him, be convinced that either or both of them have the required age. (60a)
Explanation:
Original birth certificates and baptismal certificates are required when applying for a marriage license. These documents serve as supporting evidence of the parties' identities. In the event that the original birth certificates cannot be obtained, individuals can submit baptismal certificates as an alternative.
a. If both birth certificates and baptismal certificates are inaccessible, individuals may provide a current residence certificate or any official document issued by the Local Civil Registrar (LCR). This certificate or instrument must be duly endorsed by the LCR or a public official authorized to administer oaths. It is crucial to note that this alternative is applicable only when there has been a delay of 15 days since requesting the original documents from their custodian.
b. The previously mentioned sworn document necessitates the presence of two witnesses of legal age who would vouch for the contracting party's complete personal details including full name, residence, citizenship, birth date, birthplace, and if available, the names of their parents. It is preferable for the witnesses to be close relatives of the contracting parties. If unavailable, individuals with a commendable reputation within the province or locality may serve as witnesses.
c. Rationale. The inclusion of substitutes in situations where the original birth certificates are not accessible is motivated by various factors, such as failure to record the birth, challenges related to late registration, loss or destruction of records (e.g. due to unfortunate incidents like fires at the Local Civil Registry).etc.
In the case where original birth certificates cannot be accessed, and baptismal certificates are being considered as an alternative, it will no longer be obligatory if the parents of the contracting parties personally appear before the relevant LCR and declare solemnly about the legitimate age of the parties, as stated in the application. a. Paragraph 2 of this article should be interpreted in conjunction with paragraph 1, which specifies that the presentation of the original birth certificates alone suffices. This implies that if the parties are able to provide their original birth certificates, there is no longer a requirement to present baptismal certificates. The baptismal certificates are solely meant to serve as substitutes in the absence of original birth certificates.
Local Civil Registrar: In line with the previous statement, the requirement of presenting baptismal certificates, in the absence of original birth certificates, is waived when the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) verifies the legal age of the individuals solely by observing their physical attributes.
