On the Crime of Bigamy

Here is another advice sought by my client one day.  He is named B and working as an OFW in Italy.  For more information, please read the post below:

A and B, both Filipinos, were lawfully married on February 19, 1981 in General Santos City, Philippines.  Sometime in 1995, B worked in Italy as an Overseas Filipino Worker or OFW.  While working in Italy, B met another Filipino, C.  Unfortunately, B and C fell in love with each other and they decided to get married in Italy.  Could B liable for the crime of bigamy?

To answer this question, we have to define what would constitute the crime of bigamy.

According to the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, a bigamy is committed when 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.

A picture of bigamy taken from bing images.
In the case at hand, when B contracted a subsequent marriage with C, his marriage with A is still subsisting.  There was no mention that his marriage with A was already dissolved legally or that A has been declared dead presumptively legally.

So, as far as B is concerned, he has two subsisting marriages.  One is between him and A and the other is between him and C.

Based on the definition of bigamy as provided in the penal code, B may be guilty of the crime of bigamy considering that he has contracted a second or subsequent marriage with C while his marriage with A is still subsisting or has not been legally dissolved or A has not been legally declared presumptively dead.

However, we will consider also the venue of the marriages.  The first marriage took place in General Santos City, Philippines while the second marriage was contracted in Italy.

The penal laws of the Philippines are only applicable within its jurisdiction.  The tentacles of the penal laws cannot reach beyond our territory.

From the facts of the case, it seems that B cannot be indicted with the crime of bigamy because the second or subsequent marriage was celebrated outside the jurisdiction of our country.

Granting that B's marriage with C was celebrated within the premises of our Philippine embassy there, B is liable for the crime of bigamy.

Embassies are the extensions of the territories of a country.  The  Philippine embassy in Italy is part of the territory of the Philippines.  Considering that the B's marriage with C took place in the Philippine embassy and that marriage happened within the territory of the Philippines, therefore, the tentacles of our penal laws can now reach to this territory and B can therefore be liable with bigamy.

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