Title V - THE FAMILY  The signature of the husband or wife alone is

substantial compliance with the requirement that

Chapter 1
THE FAMILY AS AN INSTITUTION
Art. 149. The family, being the foundation of the
nation, is a basic social institution which public
policy cherishes and protects. Consequently,
family relations are governed by law and no
custom, practice or agreement destructive of the
family shall be recognized or given effect.
a verification and certification of non-forum
shopping must be signed by the petitioners in a
case.
Art. 150. Family relations include those:
(1) Between husband and wife;
(2) Between parents and children;
(3) Among brothers and sisters, whether
of the full or half-blood.

POINTS

Paramount Importance

 The state recognizes the Filipino family as the

foundation of the nation.
 1987 Constitution: “the State recognizes the
sanctity of family life and shall protect and
strengthen the family as a basic social institution.”
(Section 12 Art II)

Destructive Agreements

 No custom, practice or agreement destructive of

the family shall be recognized or given affect.
 Example: An agreement that, while marriage is
subsisting, the husband can have a concubine, or
the wife can enter into adulterous relationship is
void. Such, void agreement’s only legal
significance is to invoke it as an evidence showing
’consent’ to the sexual infidelity of the husband or
the wife in cases of legal separation.

Parties in Court Cases

 Section 4, Rule 3, 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure:

‘husband and wife shall sue or be sued jointly
except as provided by law’. ‘Jointly’ means that
they shall be sued together and does not refer to
the nature of the liability.
 The necessity to be sued jointly is also because
generally the spouses are joint administrators of
either the ACP or CPG.
 In Carandang v Heirs of Quirino A. De Guzman,
the SC allowed only one of the spouses to file a
case for recovery of property considering that a
spouse is a co-owner of partnership property, he
or she can therefore undertake anything
beneficial to the partnership, including the filing
by himself or herself alone of a case for the
recovery of partnership property. The other
spouse is neither an indispensable nor a
necessary party.
 Article 111 of the FC provides that a spouse may
appear alone in court if what is involved in the
litigation is his or her separate and exclusive
property.
 Joint management or administration does not
require that the husband and wife always act
together.