Anti Mail-Order Spouse Act

RA 10906 lapsed into law on July 21, 2016, without the signature of then-president Benigno Aquino III.[7] It declared illegal all of the following: [to]

(a) Engage in any business or scheme for money, profit, material, economic or other consideration which has for its purpose the matching or offering of a Filipino to a foreign national for marriage or common law partnership on a mail-order basis or through personal introduction, email, or websites on the internet; [to]

(b) Exhibit, advertise, publish, print, or distribute, or cause the exhibition, advertisement, publication, printing, or distribution of brochures, flyers, or propaganda materials which are calculated to promote the prohibited acts in the preceding paragraph, or to post, advertise, or upload such materials through websites on the internet; [to]

(c) Solicit, enlist, or in any manner, attract or induce any Filipino to become a member in any club or association whose objective is to match Filipino nationals to foreign nationals for the purpose of marriage or common law partnership for a fee; and

(d) To use the postal service or any website on the internet to promote the prohibited acts under this section.

However, "the above notwithstanding, legitimate dating websites, which have for their purpose connecting individuals with shared interests in order to cultivate personal and dating relationships, are not covered by this Act."[7][8] With this Act, the Congress of the Philippines extended the law to criminalize the running of matchmaking businesses online with the sole purpose of connecting Filipina women and foreign men (or Filipino men and foreign women), whether for a fee or not.[9]

In a De La Salle University primer on the law and its place in the related Magna Carta for Women, they note that the law sees websites that are intended only for foreigners to meet Filipinas as illegitimate; while general dating sites may be allowed depending on the other circumstances of the case.[10]

RA 6955 was approved on June 13, 1990 and repealed on July 21, 2016, when it was replaced by RA 10906. It declared illegal:

(a) For a person, natural or juridical, association, club or any other entity to commit, directly or indirectly, any of the following acts:

(1) To establish or carry on a business which has for its purpose the matching of Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals either on a mail-order basis or through personal introduction;

(2) To advertise, publish, print or distribute or cause the advertisement, publication, printing or distribution of any brochure, flier, or any propaganda material calculated to promote the prohibited acts in the preceding subparagraph;

(3) To solicit, enlist or in any manner attract or induce any Filipino woman to become a member in any club or association whose objective is to match women for marriage to foreign nationals either on a mail-order basis or through personal introduction for a fee;

(4) To use the postal service to promote the prohibited acts...

(b) For the manager or officer-in-charge or advertising manager of any newspaper, magazine, television or radio station, or other media, or of an advertising agency, printing company or other similar entities, to knowingly allow, or consent to, the acts prohibited in the preceding paragraph.