Bad faith in marriage, in faith, and in life

By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

This week is Holy Week.  It is the highlight of the Lenten season.

For most Christians, even more important than Christmas, is the passion and death of Jesus Christ. It is His dying on the cross that saved humankind and forever changed the course of history.

The Holy Week centers on salvation. Because humankind has sinned. Has been in bad faith.

Reflecting on the term “bad faith,” especially in a marriage, does the bad faith of one or both spouses matter when the marriage is void anyhow?

Examining recent jurisprudence, the general rule is that good faith or bad faith of party to a void marriage is immaterial. In a marriage that was saddled by psychological incapacity of one party, it was held that “Either spouse, whether psychologically incapacitated or not, may initiate a petition to declare the nullity of their marriage. The law only requires that the petition contains specific allegations of the incapacity of either or both spouses from complying with the essential marital obligations. The doctrine of unclean hands will not bar a psychologically incapacitated spouse from filing such petition.” (Clavecilla v. Clavecilla, G.R. No. 228127, March 6, 2023).

But there are instances when a party’s bad faith, matters.

1)In respect to a bigamous marriage, it was held that “Only the aggrieved or injured innocent spouse of either marriage may petition to declare the nullity of the subsequent marriage. Inasmuch as Maria Lina is not the aggrieved or injured spouse, in her prior marriage, she lacks the legal capacity to petition the declaration of nullity of her subsequent marriage.” (Maria Lina P. Quirit Figarido v. Edwin L. Figarido, G.R. No. 259520, November 5, 2024). Thus, it would seem that although generally, good faith or bad faith is immaterial in a void marriage such that even the guilty spouse may file the petition to seek its nullity; in a bigamous marriage, only the innocent spouse can file the same.

2)Too, good or bad faith matters when the solemnizing officer lacks the authority to perform a marriage ceremony because the marriage will still be valid if one or both of the parties believe in good faith that the solemnizing officer has the legal authority (see Art. 35 [2], Family Code). Relatedly, in a case involving a marriage solemnized by one who lacked the authority to do so, the marriage was upheld despite the solemnizing officer’s lack of authority to perform marriages as it was performed by an impostor and not the judge whose name appeared on the marriage certificate. At least one of the parties however   believed that the impostor was the judge and had authority to perform a marriage. (Maliwat-Melad v. Melad, G.R. No. 267998, April 23, 2025)

3)Finally, in a subsequent marriage contracted after the spouse in a previous marriage was declared presumptively dead pursuant to Article 41 of the Family Code, the rule is:

“If both spouses of the subsequent marriage acted in bad faith, said marriage shall be void ab initio and all donations by reason of marriage and testamentary dispositions made by one in favor of the other are revoked by operation of law.” (see Art. 44, Family Code).

Here, in this scenario, the bad faith of both parties who contracted a subsequent marriage with one another after knowingly proclaiming the death of the spouse of one of them in court, will render the subsequent marriage as void on account of bad faith.

Bad faith in common conversations implies dishonesty, insincerity or hidden motive in personal dealings. When applied to contractual obligations, bad faith means to cause a deliberate breach of the same.

Turning to life in general, bad faith means self-deception. Philosophically, humans are meant to be free according to Jean-Paul Sartre. (StudySmarter UK https://www.studysmarter.co.uk “Bad Faith: Philosophy & Existensialism, last seen on April 1, 2026, 2:40 PM, Phl time).

Simply, it is against human nature to act in bad faith. Nevertheless, bad faith still abounds in life, love and law.

It has to be accepted as part of reality and its consequences must be addressed, just like in law and jurisprudence.

(The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates (ETRIIILaw)– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, a law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and a book author. Among the books he authored is “Law on Property and Essentials of Land Registration [2024 Edition]” which was on the bestseller’s list in online shops for several months. In 2026, he published his second major legal textbook titled “Comprehensive Reviewer on Persons and Family Relations.” His website is etriiilaw.com).