To answer your question, it is important to explain the concept of marriage as defined by law and what the requisites of a valid marriage are.
Article 1 of the Family Code of the Philippines defines Marriage as “a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with 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.”
As you can see, marriage is a special contract. What makes it special is the fact that in marriage, the nature, consequences and incidents are governed by law, and as such the parties cannot stipulate on whatever pleases them, except with reference to marriage settlements. On the other hand, in ordinary contracts, parties can stipulate whatever agreements they may have concluded and be bound by it, unless the same is contrary to law, against morals, public policy/public order or good customs. Therefore, the validity of marriage depends entirely on what the law requires.
Under Articles 2 and 3 of the Family Code, a marriage is valid if the essential and formal requisites of the same are present, to wit:
“Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are present:
(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.
Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are:
(1) Authority of the solemnizing officer;
(2) A valid marriage license except in the cases provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; and
(3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance of the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and their personal declaration that they take each other as husband and wife in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age.
Art. 4. The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio, xxxx.”
If these requisites are present, the marriage between the contracting parties is valid.
In your question, you mentioned that your wife's name in the marriage certificate is Jocelyn Fardenton and not Joelinda Espinurgra as appearing in her birth certificate. Again, as long as the requisites above are present, your marriage is still valid. The marriage certificate is just an evidence of the marriage and has nothing to do with the validity of the same. And although the marriage certificate is the best evidence, the marriage can still be proved by other ways such as the testimony of witnesses to the matrimony, couple’s public and open cohabitation as husband and wife after the alleged wedlock, the birth or baptismal certificates of children born during such union, and the mention of such nuptial in subsequent documents. (Pugeda vs. Trias, 4 SCRA 849, March 31, 1962)
I hope this answers your question.
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