Where to File an Annulment Case in Iloilo: Which Court, Which Branch

Almost every annulment guide written in the Philippines stops at the same sentence: “file the petition with the Family Court.” For someone in Iloilo, that sentence is where the real question starts. Which court is the Family Court here? Is it in the city? What if the marriage happened somewhere else?

This guide sets out what the Supreme Court has actually designated in Iloilo, where those courts sit, and the residence rule that decides whether Iloilo is the correct venue for your petition at all.

1. What is a Family Court, and why does it matter here?

Republic Act No. 8369, the Family Courts Act of 1997, created Family Courts and gave them exclusive original jurisdiction over cases involving family relations. Petitions for annulment of a voidable marriage and for declaration of absolute nullity of a void marriage both fall inside that jurisdiction.

The Act contemplated separate, purpose-built Family Courts. Because those could not be established everywhere at once, Section 17 of the Act allowed the Supreme Court to designate existing Regional Trial Court branches to act as Family Courts in the meantime. That designation mechanism is why Iloilo’s answer is a list of branch numbers rather than a single building called a Family Court.

Source: Republic Act No. 8369, the Family Courts Act of 1997.

2. Which Iloilo branches were designated as Family Courts?

On 1 February 2000, the Supreme Court en banc issued A.M. No. 99-11-07-SC, designating 69 Regional Trial Court branches nationwide as Family Courts, to take effect on 1 March 2000. Under the Sixth Judicial Region, the resolution lists for Iloilo City:

• Branch 27, Regional Trial Court, Iloilo City
• Branch 30, Regional Trial Court, Iloilo City

Two neighbouring stations in the same region were also designated, which matters if your residence sits outside Iloilo: Branch 3 in Kalibo, Aklan, Branch 14 in Roxas City, Branch 52 in Bacolod City, and Branch 58 in San Carlos City.

The resolution also stated that a designated branch keeps its Family Court function even after the judge who was named to it leaves, so the designation attaches to the branch rather than to the individual judge. It stays in force until actual Family Courts are established under Section 3 of the Act, or until the Supreme Court revokes it.

Source: A.M. No. 99-11-07-SC, Re: Designation of Certain Branches of the RTC as Family Courts, 1 February 2000.

3. What about Branch 5-FC and Branch 6-FC?

The Supreme Court’s current court directory also lists two branches in Iloilo that carry the “FC” tag directly in their name, meaning they are dedicated Family Court branches rather than ordinary branches wearing a designation:

• Branch 5-FC, Iloilo City. The directory entry currently shows the presiding judge as vacant.
• Branch 6-FC, Dumangas, listed at the Hall of Justice, FC Branch 6, P.D. Monfort South, Dumangas, Iloilo. Its entry also currently shows a vacancy.

This is the part that changes fastest, and it is the reason this guide asks you to verify rather than to trust a webpage. A branch that exists on paper is not the same as a branch that is staffed, sitting, and receiving raffled cases. In July 2026 the judiciary and the Iloilo Provincial Government were still scouting sites in Dumangas for a new Hall of Justice to house Branch 6-FC, which tells you plainly that the local Family Court map is still being drawn.

Sources: Supreme Court court directory, RTC Branch 5-FC, Iloilo City, RTC Branch 6-FC, Dumangas, and Iloilo Provincial Government. Checked September 2026.

4. Where do the Iloilo City courts actually sit?

The Regional Trial Court branches in Iloilo City are housed at the Chief Justice Ramón Q. Avanceña Hall of Justice, Bonifacio Drive, Iloilo City, 5000. Iloilo City is a multi-branch station: the Supreme Court directory lists Regional Trial Court branches numbered 22 through 39 there, plus Branch 5-FC.

Practical note for a first visit: the branches occupy different floors of the same building, and the office you will usually need first is not a branch at all. It is the Office of the Clerk of Court, which is where petitions are filed, docket fees are assessed and paid, and the raffle is conducted.

5. Does living in Iloilo mean you file in Iloilo?

Not automatically, and this is the single most common misunderstanding. Venue does not follow where the wedding happened, where the marriage certificate is registered, or where the family is from. It follows residence.

Under Section 4 of A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC, the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages, the petition is filed in the Family Court of the province or city where the petitioner or the respondent has been residing for at least six months before the date of filing.

So, in ordinary Iloilo situations:

• you have lived in Iloilo City for the last six months, and Iloilo City is a proper venue
• you moved to Manila four months ago but your spouse still lives in Iloilo, and Iloilo can still be a proper venue through the respondent’s residence
• you were married in Iloilo but neither of you has lived here in years, and Iloilo is very likely not the right venue despite the marriage certificate

Because venue turns on a factual claim about residence, courts expect it to be proven rather than asserted, typically through documents such as a barangay certification and other supporting proof of actual residence.

Source: A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC, Section 4.

6. What if one of you is abroad?

On 24 January 2023, the Supreme Court approved amendments to Section 4 that addressed a gap the original rule left open, which mattered enormously in a province that sends as many people overseas as Iloilo does.

Broadly, under the amended rule:

• if both parties are abroad, the petition may be filed at the habitual residence of either party at the petitioner’s election, or at the place where the spouses last resided together as husband and wife in the Philippines
• if only the petitioner is abroad, venue is the respondent’s place of residence in the Philippines

That second rule is why an Ilonggo working overseas whose spouse still lives in, say, Oton or Jaro will often be filing in Iloilo even though the petitioner has not set foot in the province for years. We cover this in more depth in the OFW guide.

Sources: Ocampo & Suralvo on the 2023 amendments and a summary of the amended venue guidelines.

7. How does a case get assigned to a branch?

You do not pick your judge, and you should be wary of anyone who implies otherwise. A petition is filed with the Office of the Clerk of Court at the station, and the case is raffled.

Where a station has designated Family Courts, family cases go to those branches. A.M. No. 99-11-07-SC provided that where two or more branches at a station are designated as Family Courts, cases within their jurisdiction are raffled among those designated branches. In Iloilo City, that is the mechanism that has sent family cases to the designated branches rather than across all branches at the Hall of Justice.

Where a station has no designated Family Court, Section 1 of the same resolution provides that family cases are raffled among the ordinary Regional Trial Court branches at that station, which then try and decide them. That is the rule that governs the Iloilo province stations, and it is covered in the city versus province guide.

8. What happens if you file in the wrong place?

Venue in these cases is not a technicality that quietly sorts itself out. A petition filed where neither spouse meets the residence requirement invites a challenge, and the practical cost is measured in months and in filing fees that do not come back. Because residence must be proven, a venue claim built on a mailing address rather than actual residence is exposed.

There is a related trap worth naming plainly. Choosing a venue because it is believed to be faster or more lenient, rather than because you actually live there, is not a shortcut. The 2023 amendments moved in the opposite direction by tightening how residence is verified, including requiring counsel to attest that they checked it.

Iloilo has a documented example of how seriously this is taken. In A.M. No. RTJ-16-2424, decided on 18 January 2023, the Supreme Court ruled on an administrative case arising from a judicial audit of nullity of marriage cases at the Regional Trial Court of Barotac Viejo and Branch 32 in Iloilo City. Among the audit findings was that in one case the parties were not residents of Iloilo and the marriage had been solemnised outside Iloilo, alongside findings about summons, publication, collusion reports, and the participation of the Office of the Solicitor General. The judge was found guilty of gross ignorance of the law and procedure and gross misconduct, and was suspended from office without pay for one year.

The point for a petitioner is not the discipline case itself. It is that residence in these petitions is audited, and that the Court has a standing instrument for checking it: the En Banc Resolution of 2 October 2018, the Guidelines to Validate Compliance with the Jurisdictional Requirement set out in A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC. Filing in Iloilo because it looks convenient, when neither spouse actually lives here, is a claim someone is expected to verify.

Source: Office of the Court Administrator v. Judge Justalero, A.M. No. RTJ-16-2424, 18 January 2023 (Supreme Court E-Library).

9. How should you verify all of this before filing?

Court designations, branch creations, and judicial vacancies change, and they change without any announcement that reaches the public. Before relying on any branch number, including the ones in this guide:

• call or visit the Office of the Clerk of Court at the station you believe is correct and ask which branches are currently receiving family cases
• check the Supreme Court’s court directory entry for that branch, which lists the presiding judge, contact number, and official judiciary email address
• confirm which municipalities fall under that station’s territorial jurisdiction rather than assuming the nearest city

For reference, the directory currently lists direct lines for the Iloilo City branches, for example (033) 327-9714 for Branch 27 and (033) 327-5428 for Branch 30, along with judiciary email addresses in the form rtc1ilo0NN@judiciary.gov.ph. Treat those as a starting point to confirm, not as a substitute for confirming.

Conclusion

The useful version of “where do I file in Iloilo” has two parts. First, venue is decided by six months of residence, by either spouse, and it can be a different place from where you were married. Second, once the station is correct, the branch is not your decision: you file with the Office of the Clerk of Court and the case is raffled to a Family Court branch.

Branch 27 and Branch 30 are the designated Family Courts of record in Iloilo City, with Branch 5-FC and Branch 6-FC now on the map as dedicated Family Court branches. Confirm the current picture with the Clerk of Court before you file, because that map is still moving.