Marriage as a contract

Article 1 Family Code of the Philippines

Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered
into in accordance with the 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."

-Other contracts may be modified, restricted or enlarged or entirely released from upon the will
of the parties. Not so with marriage. The relation, once formed, calls for the law to step in and
hold the parties to various obligations and liabilities. Marriage is a special contract also because
it is vested with public interest. Marriage is an institution in the maintenance of which in its
purity the public is deeply interested for it is the foundation of the family and of society- without
which there would be neither civilization nor progress. It is the characteristic of permanence
therefore that distinguishes marriage from a purely consensual transaction. 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) When the requirements of law are complied with, what has been entered, is
by law, a contract of marriage, whatever else a church or a religious organization may demand
from its members. Marriage can be argued to be the very groundwork for other domestic
relations. The state has an interest in this special contract. Marriage is the foundation of the
family, and around the family, many of our present day social institutions are built.

-Marriage as a special contract cannot be restricted by discriminatory policies of private

individuals or corporations. (Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Company v. NLRC)

-Marriage is a legally sanctioned contract between a man and a woman. Entering into a marriage
contract changes the legal status of both parties, giving husband and wife new rights and
obligations. Public policy is strongly in favor of marriage based on the belief that it preserves the
family unit. Traditionally, marriage has been viewed as vital to the preservation of morals and
civilization.

-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.