Additional requirements for foreigners marrying Filipinas eyed

MANILA, Philippines - A lawmaker  has filed a bill seeking  an additional requirement for male foreign nationals desiring to marry a Filipina before a marriage license can be granted to prevent exploitation of Filipino women.

“We are all aware of incidents that some foreigners who come to the Philippines to marry Filipino women are vagabonds or social and moral derelicts in their own country, whose real motive is only to take advantage and exploit our women,” Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia (3rd District, Cebu) said.

Garcia is author of House Bill 2387 or “An Act amending Article 66 of the Civil Code of the Philippines in order to prescribe additional requirements for male citizens or subjects of a foreign country desiring to marry a Filipino woman.”

“Not a few of these male foreigners’ real motive for marriage is to exploit our women by making them work and worse, by sending them to prostitution and other degrading and dehumanizing occupations,” Garcia said.

At present, Garcia said, “when either or both the contracting parties are citizens or subjects of a foreign country, it shall be necessary, before a marriage license can be obtained, to provide themselves with a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, to be issued by their respective diplomatic or consular officials.”

The bill provides that when one of the contracting parties is a male citizen or subject of a foreign country desiring to marry a female citizen of the Philippines, in addition to the certificate of legal capacity, the foreign subject or citizen shall provide himself with a certificate of good moral character and a certificate that he has a gainful trade, business or employment, to be issued by his diplomatic or consular official, before a marriage license can be obtained.

Garcia said the exploitation of Filipino women, thru the so-called mail-order or pen-pal, Facebook, website mail, and other internet instigated marriages, has not only caused untold miseries and sufferings to Filipino women but also brought dishonour and disgrace to Filipino womanhood.

“The proposed requirements, in addition to the usual certificate of legal capacity, are intended to protect our women from these undesirable foreigners,” Garcia said.

The Garcia bill has been referred to the Committee on Revision of Laws chaired by Rep. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas (6th District, Pangasinan).