Marriage is the process by which two people make their relationship public,

official, and permanent. In sociology, marriage is defined as a socially

approved union between two or more people in what is considered as a
steady, lasting relationship based in part on some form of sexual bond. It is
an institution that is regarded permanent and involves mutual rights and
obligations.

MULTIPLE MARRIAGE

Polygamy is the state of marriage to many spouses, such as one man with
several wives or one woman with several husbands. Polygamy exist in three
specific forms:

1) POLYGYNY this is the most common form of polygamy where a man

can marry more than one woman in the same time or even he is already
married. However, the law required that the husband should treat his wives
fairly and there should be no favorite. The right of one wife should also be
the right of another. In some societies only well-to-do men could afford to
have more than one wife, particularly if each wife required maintenance of a
separate household.

2) POLYANDRY - is the specific form of polygamy in which a woman is

married to more than one husband simultaneously. This is form of polygamy
is rarely practiced and only in few societies since there are more sufficient
women for all the men in a society to have their own spouse.

3) GROUP MARRIAGE is a form of polygamous relationship where there is

more than one man and more than one women that composes a family. This
is may also referred as polygynandry. Basically, all members of the
marriage share parental responsibility for any children arising from the
marriage. As this form of marriage is not officially recognized in any
jurisdiction, and illegal in many; it seems likely that its practice is limited to
relatively small numbers of people.
COUNTRIES THAT ALLOWS POLYGAMY

There are several countries in Africa, Asia, and Oceana permits polygamy
and majority of them are from Muslim communities. However, countries in
America, Europe, and several countries in Asia and Africa does not permit
polygamy, and the rest of the sovereign states do not recognize polygamous
marriages.

POLYGAMY IN PHILIPPINES

Generally, the Philippine government does not permit polygamy in our

country, except our Muslim brothers who are permitted to have multiple
wives. Non-muslims who have already contracted a first marriage will only be
allowed to remarry upon the dissolution of the previous marriage or upon the
declaration of the presumptive death of the first spouse. Subsequent
marriages which are contracted during the subsistence of the first marriage
will be considered as bigamous/polygamous. However, Islam bans polyandry
completely. A woman may not have more than one husband.
However, polygyny is allowed for men, permitting marriage to as many as
four wives as long as they are able take care of them and love them equally.