HB6027 changes the nature of marriage as a special contract

A) Nature of marriage

Family Code

Article 1. Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman
entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the
foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and
incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements
may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code. (52a)

Rule 131 Sec. 3 (aa), Rules of Court - That a man and woman deporting themselves as husband
and wife have entered into a lawful contract of marriage;

Art. 220 (NCC). In case of doubt, all presumptions favor the solidarity of the family. Thus, every
intendment of law or facts leans toward the validity of marriage, the indissolubility of the
marriage bonds, the legitimacy of children, the community of property during marriage, the
authority of parents over their children, and the validity of defense for any member of the
family in case of unlawful aggression.

Muslim Code (PD 1083)

Sec. 14 Nature. Marriage is not only a civil contract but a social institution. Its nature,
consequences and incidents are governed by this Code and the Shari'a and not subject to
stipulation, except that the marriage settlements may to a certain extent fix the property
relations of the spouses.

B) Purpose of the protection

Art. XV of the 1987 Constitution

Section 1. The State recognizes the Filipino Family as the foundation of the nation. Accordingly,
it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development.

In Asqueta v. RP, marriage is not a mere ordinary contract because it is a contract where the
state has interest to protect. The state will not have a steady foundation without a strong and
intact family. The separation of the husband and wife, or the family weakens the social and
moral foundation of the society, that is why the preservation and protection of the family is not
only vested on the members of the family, but also of the state. Because of this, marriage is
inviolable or at least protected from mere irreconcilable differences, or severe unhappiness of
the spouses. Marriage goes beyond than the spouses, but involves sanctity of the whole family
which the State is interested in to protect.
Marriage is also a civil contract, such that no ecclesiastical elements are involved. The law does
not look upon marriage as a sacrament. In the eyes of the law, marriage is a secular matter.
Marriage is not at most a civil contract but at least a civil contract as marriage is not only a
contract but a status. (Bove v. Pinciotti)

Our Constitution devotes an entire Article on the Family, recognizing it "as the foundation of the
nation." It decrees marriage as legally "inviolable," thereby protecting it from dissolution at the
whim of the parties. Both the family and marriage are to be "protected" by the state. (Republic
v. CA)

In view of the evident source and purpose of the Family Code provision, contemporaneous
religious interpretation is to be given persuasive effect. Here, the State and the Church — while
remaining independent, separate and apart from each other — shall walk together in synodal
cadence towards the same goal of protecting and cherishing marriage and the family as the
inviolable base of the nation. (Kalaw v. Fernandez)

Socioeconomic Side

In the United States, 67 percent of second marriages end in divorce while 73 percent of third
marriages end in divorce. (American Psychological Association,2012) This may show that divorce
is not the solution to failed marriages. According to David Hume, in his essay entitled “Of
Polygamy and Divorces”, he claimed that if spouses know they can divorce at will and seek their
marital bliss with another partner, the relationship dynamics within marriage would be radically
altered in a manner that diminishes marital stability and marital happiness. With no sense of
obligation to stick together through thick and thin, they would be less inclined to work together
to iron out their differences and keep their conjugal relationship alive. If one is unhappy, and the
other spouse is unhappy, then the divorce mentality reduces marriage into a mutual self-
gratification contract. The dissolution of marriage only by irreconcilable differences and chronic
unhappiness makes marriage’s sacredness, its endurance, its inviolability disappear. The
institution of marriage is destroyed.

C) Nature of other dissolution of marriages and why they are so