Dear Magnificent Atty.

Perez,
Greetings from the city that never sleeps! I was googling for help about my problem when I came
across your site and the problem about the lovely Maricar. After reading your advice to Fazouk, I
knew you would give the right advice for me. You see, my problem is like this: a few months ago, I
accepted a contractual job as a wrangler for longhorn cattle over at the lovely mountains of Wyoming.
I was assigned to guard them together with a macho guy from the Philippines named Sonny. It was a
tough job full of problems with wolves and tough weather, and in the course of a few weeks, Sonny and
I bonded and became very close with each other. One thing led to another, and soon Sonny and I were
sharing the same sleeping bag, if you know what I mean.
Over time, Sonny and I realized that we were in love. So when New York approved its gay marriage act
on June 24, 2011, Sonny and I quit our jobs and flew to New York where we both tied the knot. We had
a short honeymoon period at the Big Apple until Sonny finally told me his big secret.
I still remember that day like it was only yesterday. I was cooking breakfast in our small apartment in
Soho, and both Sonny and I had bad hangovers from partying the night before. Sonny brewed me a
cup of strong black coffee and asked me to sit at the breakfast corner. Mike, he told me. Mike I
cant live a lie anymore.
I put down the skillet, turned the grill off and sat down. I hurriedly gulped the coffee despite its
scalding heat because I knew I needed to be sober for his news.
Mike.. youre a good man, a great man, Sonny said, not being able to look me in the eye. He kept
fidgeting, his fingers tearing away bits and pieces from the paper napkin. Sometimes, I think youre
too good for me, and in a lot of ways, you are.
Sonny put the paper napkin down and looked at me, face to face.
Mike. Im coming out of the closet. Im. Im.
For some reason, I couldnt keep the tears out of my eyes when Sonny plunged the knife deep into my
heart.
Mike, Im STRAIGHT!
And just like that Sonny destroyed all the happiness I have ever known. As if on cue, a bitter country
song started playing on the radio, about a cowboy riding alone on a strange horse at midnight, headed
to Omaha.
Forgive me Mike I was confused I was horny I didnt know what to do. No, no, no Mike, Im
sorry. I was just using you to get a green card. You see, Im married in the Philippines. I have a wife

named Christine and three sons named Mark, Fruto and Michal. I needed to give them a good life, a
better life than what we have back in our country and you were my ticket out of poverty
At that point, I stormed out of the room, overturning all our meager possessions. I dont know how I
was able to cross the street in the middle of traffic, with my tears obscuring my vision, but I walked out
of Sonny and his lying, cheating ways and went to have fun and stay at the YMCA where I got myself
clean. Where I had a good meal. Where I could do whatever I feel.
Someone advised me that in the Philippines, contracting a second marriage while your first marriage
was existing is considered a crime of BIGAMY.
I want to get back at Sonny, your Magnificence. I want to make him hurt like I hurt. I want to make
him know all there is to know about the crying game. I want to put him into prison where unwashed
fat men with badly-drawn tattoos will ass-rape the straightness out of him until Sonny comes back
howling on his knees, asking me for forgiveness, promising to forget about his family back in the
Philippines.
Ive been told that you are evil and would not hesitate to make other lives miserable for an insane
amount of money. Well how does One Million Pesos for a criminal case sound? Call me.
Truly yours,
Mike

I don't know how to quit you

Dear Mike,
First of all, allow me to extend my sympathies for the pain that your former lover inflicted on you. And
secondly, let me correct a common misconception about me. Im not the kind of lawyer who inflicts
pain, misery and suffering to other people for money.
Im the kind of lawyer who would do it happily for free.

But that being said, I gladly accept your One Million Pesos. It will go a long way for my Pajero sinking
fund. Unfortunately, I am only a lawyer and not a bishop. Nobody will give me an SUV for free.
Lets focus on the problem at hand.
You certainly gave me a very interesting problem to work on, and I would like to accept it, if only to
have a landmark Supreme Court ruling with my name on it. You see, like youve read in the Maricar
problem, the Philippines does not recognize gay marriages celebrated in our country, since it is
contrary to our Family Code, which defines marriage as:
A special contract of permanent union between a manand a woman entered into in accordance with
the law for the establishment of conjugal and family life.
And that the necessary requirements for a valid marriage is:
1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female, and;
2) Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.
However, the difference between your situation and that of the Maricar one is that your marriage was
celebrated OUTSIDE the Philippines while Fazouk and Maricar intended to get married in the country.
In this case, Article 26 of the Family Code, which provides that:
All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines in accordance with the laws in force in the country
where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those
prohibited under Articles 35(1), (4), (5) and (6), 36, 37 and 38. X x x
Those articles mentioned in Art. 26 consider the following marriages as null and void:
(1)

Those contracted by any party below eighteen years of age even with the consent of parents or

guardians;
(2)

Bigamous or polygamous marriages;

(3)

Those contracted through mistake of one contracting party as to the identity of the other;

(4)

A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was psychologically

incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage

(5)

Incestuous marriages;

What this means, Mike, is that the Philippines is obliged to recognize the validity of a gay marriage
celebrated in New York, where such marriage is considered valid and binding. Unfortunately, your

marriage with Sonny is considered null and void, not because its a gay marriage, but because its a
bigamous marriage, since Sonny was previously married here in the Philippines.
However, nonwithstanding the fact that Sonnys second marriage is void in the Philippines, he did
however contract a second marriage, which makes him liable for the crime of bigamy. The Revised
Penal Code defines bigamy as:
The penalty of prision mayor shall be imposed upon any person who shall contract a second or
subsequent marriage before the former marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent
spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a judgment rendered in the proper
proceedings.
The fact that gay marriages celebrated in the Philippines are considered void, I believe, has no bearing
on the prosecution of the second case. This is supported by the Supreme Court, in the case of Jarillo
vs. People of the Philippines (G.R. No. 164435, September 29, 2009), where it was ruled that:
For the very same reasons elucidated in the above-quoted cases, petitioners conviction of the crime of
bigamy must be affirmed. The subsequent judicial declaration of nullity of petitioners two marriages
to Alocillo cannot be considered a valid defense in the crime of bigamy. The moment petitioner
contracted a second marriage without the previous one having been judicially declared null and void,
the crime of bigamy was already consummated because at the time of the celebration of the second
marriage, petitioners marriage to Alocillo, which had not yet been declared null and void by a court of
competent jurisdiction, was deemed valid and subsisting. Neither would a judicial declaration of
the nullity of petitioners marriage to Uy make any difference. As held in Tenebro, [s]ince
a marriage contracted during the subsistence of a valid marriage is automatically void, the
nullity of this second marriage is not per se an argument for the avoidance of criminal
liability for bigamy.

A plain reading of [Article 349 of the Revised Penal Code],

therefore, would indicate that the provision penalizes the mere act of contracting a second
or subsequent marriage during the subsistence of a valid marriage. (Emboldened and
underscored for emphasis)
So, if your question is whether your marriage to Sonny is valid in the Philippines, unfortunately, the
answer is no, not because its a gay marriage, but because its a bigamous one. But if youre asking if
you could put Sonny to jail for bigamy, yes, definitely, I think you could, and for a million pesos and my
name in the SCRA, I will help you on that issue. Besides, if you put Sonny to jail, that would mean his
wife would be lonely and would need some moral support. And I also happen to own a sleeping bag.
I hope that answers your question. Thank you for your query, Mike, and I hope you will still find love,
even when you look in all the wrong places. Until then, I remain:

The Magnificent Atty. Perez

-oO0OoP.S.
This post-script is written in addendum to very good arguments raised by my classmate in law school,
Atty. Jeffrey Ravelo, who presently teaches public international law.
Atty. Ravelo asked whether or not jurisdiction over the second marriage can be obtained by Phlippine
courts, considering that it was celebrated abroad. He also raised Articles 15 and 17 of the Civil Code
which provide:
Art. 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of
persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.
Art. 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public instruments shall be governed
by the laws of the country in which they are executed.
When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular officials of the Republic of the
Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities established by Philippine laws shall be observed in
their execution.
Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those which have, for their object,
public order, public policy and good customs shall not be rendered ineffective by laws or judgments
promulgated, or by determinations or conventions agreed upon in a foreign country.
Basically, what Atty. Ravelo is saying is that theoretically, because the second marriage was celebrated
abroad, therefore, the criminal act was outside of Philippine territory, which is one of the components
for the courts power to put the case into trial. Hence, there was no criminal act of bigamy committed
because the second marriage was done outside the scope of Philippine criminal law to enforce. This is
supported by Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code which provides:
Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall
be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and
maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations and
securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;chan robles virtual law library

3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations and
securities mentioned in the presiding number;
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their
functions; or
5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in Title
One of Book Two of this Code.
Note that the second marriage does not fall within any of the situations allowing for extra-territorial
jurisdiction of Philippine criminal laws.
Hence no crime of Bigamy has been committed by Sonny.
There are sometimes when yes, I reach the limits of my magnificence, and I have to defer to the
wisdom and sound reasoning of a brilliant legal mind. So to my companyero and (Im proud to add),
classmate in law school, Atty. Ravelo, thank you very much for your input on this matter. I hope this
discussion will someday be resolved in an actual Supreme Court case.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REPUBIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

CITY OF ILIGAN

OFFICE OF THE CITY LEGAL OFFICER

September 7, 2009
HON. LAWRENCE LL. CRUZ
City Mayor
Iligan City
OFFICE OF THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD
Iligan City

Dear Sirs:
Referred to this office for comment is the legality or validity of the City Ordinance No. 1826 or
otherwise known as AN ORDINANCE BANNING SMOKING INSIDE PUBLIC UTILITY PASSANGER
VEHICLES OPERATING WITHIN THE CITY OF ILIGAN.
This office is of the opinion that the subject ordinance is not contrary to existing laws or the
Constitution. It is well-settled that pursuant to the general welfare clause in Section 16 of the Local
Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160), local government units are empowered to enact ordinances in

the exercise of police power. Every local government unit has the sworn obligation to enact measures
that will enhance the public health, safety and convenience, maintain peace and order, and promote
the general prosperity of the inhabitants of the local units. Thus, taking into consideration that
smoking especially in public endangers not only the health of the smoker but also that of the others,
the City Government has a valid reason for banning smoking in public utility jeepneys.
However, for its effectivity, the subject ordinance which contains penal sanctions, is required to be
posted at prominent places in the City of Iligan for a minimum period of three (3) consecutive weeks
and shall also be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the territorial jurisdiction of
the City of Iligan.
For your honors guidance.

Atty. xxxxxxxxxx
City Legal Officer