Pre-marriage counseling seminar (PMOC): Philippines guide

The pre-marriage seminar, officially Pre-Marriage Orientation and Counseling (PMOC), is the session your city or municipality runs before it issues a marriage license. Every couple attends the orientation and gets a Certificate of Compliance, which the law says must be free. If either of you is 18 to 25, you also attend a counseling session. It usually takes half a day at the city population, health or social welfare office.

It's a civil requirement, separate from the Church's Pre-Cana. Church couples need both. If you're planning a church wedding, our Pre-Cana seminar guide covers the parish side.

What does the law require?

Three laws stack up here:

RA 10354 spells out what the orientation covers: "responsible parenthood, family planning, breastfeeding and infant nutrition." The government's joint guidelines for the program, Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 of 2018, signed by POPCOM, DOH, DSWD, PSA and DILG, combine the two parts into one PMOC program, which DILG told every local government to adopt in Memorandum Circular 2018-182. Local ordinances that carry it out, such as Muntinlupa City's Ordinance 2025-315, describe the orientation as required before a license "regardless of the age of the parties," and the counseling as mandatory for 18- to 25-year-olds on top of it.

Who has to attend?

Article 16 says that if only one of you needs parental consent or advice, "the other party must be present at the counselling." So a 30-year-old marrying a 24-year-old sits through it too.

Some LGUs run orientation and counseling as one session; others split them across offices. Quezon City, for example, lists a Certificate of Family Planning from the City Health Department for every applicant and, for ages 18 to 25, a separate Certificate of Marriage Counseling from its Social Services Development Department.

How much does it cost?

By law, nothing. PD 965 says the certificate is "issued at no cost to the applicants," and RA 10354 says "issued for free."

In practice, some LGUs charge a seminar fee anyway. Tangub City lists ₱200 for a regular session and ₱500 for a special schedule, paid at the City Treasurer's Office. Bride & Breakfast's 2026 cost guide calls the pre-marriage seminar certificate "mostly free," with some areas charging a small fee. Ask your own office, and keep the receipt if you pay.

How long is the seminar?

Plan for half a day.

• Tangub City runs sessions every other Friday from 9 AM to 3 PM, with about three hours for the seminar itself, and offers another date if you can't make Fridays.
• San Francisco, Agusan del Sur sets the PMOC session at a minimum of four hours, led by its PMOC team.

The catch isn't the length; it's the schedule. Many offices hold the seminar only on certain days, and some fill up before the wedding months. February, June and December had the most weddings in 2024 (PNA), so book early for those.

Where do you attend?

At the city or municipality where you'll file the marriage license, which must be where one of you lives (Family Code, Article 9). Depending on the LGU, the office is called:

• The City or Municipal Population Office (POPCOM)
• The City or Municipal Health Office
• The Social Welfare and Development Office, for the counseling part

The easiest way to find out: ask the Local Civil Registrar when you pick up the license forms. They'll tell you which office issues the certificates they accept.

How do you sign up, step by step?

1. Ask your Local Civil Registrar which seminar certificates it needs and where to get them.
2. Call or visit that office and book a date. Bring IDs; some offices want the license application form too.
3. Pay any seminar fee at the treasurer's office if your LGU charges one.
4. Attend together. Both of you must be there for the whole session.
5. Receive your certificate. In Tangub City, couples get it before they leave.
6. Submit it with your marriage license application.

Book the seminar first, before you file. Everything else in the license process can be done in a week; the seminar date is the one you don't control. Our marriage license guide covers the rest of the filing.

What does the seminar cover?

The law fixes the core: responsible parenthood, family planning methods, breastfeeding and infant nutrition. The counseling part for 18- to 25-year-olds is run by a counselor accredited by the government, or by a priest, imam or minister (Article 16). What it covers beyond the basics varies by LGU and by counselor.

Expect a mix of talks and short exercises with other couples. Nobody grades you, and you don't have to agree with every method presented. The certificate says you received the information, not that you'll use it.

Pre-marriage seminar vs Pre-Cana

Can Pre-Cana count? Partly. Article 16 lets a "priest, imam or minister authorized to solemnize marriage" certify the counseling for couples aged 18 to 25, so some registrars accept a Pre-Cana certificate for that part. The family planning Certificate of Compliance is a different document from the local Family Planning Office, and RA 10354 doesn't offer a church substitute. Ask your registrar before you skip anything.

What if you're short on time?

If you're 18 to 25 and the counseling certificate is missing, Article 16 doesn't refuse the license; it suspends issuance for three months after the 10-day posting. For the family planning part, PD 965 says that if the office couldn't give the instruction in time, the registrar holds the license for two weeks, then may issue it.

Neither is a plan. Book the seminar as soon as you've fixed the date, and you won't need either rule.

Get the date out while you wait

The seminar, the 10-day posting and the license pickup take two to three weeks at best. Your guests can know the date long before that. Ceremo gives each household its own RSVP link to send through Messenger or Viber, guests answer without making an account, and your list shows who's coming as replies arrive. Free for up to 50 guests. Start your wedding website.

For the full checklist, see civil wedding requirements in the Philippines.