Divorce abroad obtained by both spouses may be recognized in the Philippines

Dear PAO,

My brother married a foreigner. But because of several factors, they ended up getting divorced. According to my brother, it was his then wife who processed their divorce, but essentially, it was based on their mutual agreement as they both believed that their marriage was unsalvageable. The divorce was filed in the country of his then wife and it was eventually granted. She is now married to another man, while my brother returned to the Philippines to start all over again. He is still open to the idea of meeting someone with whom he will eventually spend the rest of his life. So, he is planning to apply for the recognition of divorce, but he is unsure if it can be granted considering that their divorce was by their mutual agreement. Do you think the recognition of divorce can possibly be granted?

Arlene

Dear Arlene,

While we do not have a divorce law to this day, a decree of divorce which has been validly obtained abroad may nevertheless be recognized in our jurisdiction in consonance with the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code of the Philippines. The law specifically provides:

“Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and (6), 3637 and 38.

“Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.” (Emphasis supplied)

In the past, the application of the aforementioned provision mainly addressed situations where it was the foreign spouse who initiated and filed the appropriate petition for divorce abroad. With the changing times, our courts have further acknowledged situations where the decree of divorce has been instituted by both the foreign and Filipino spouses and granted recognition thereof. As explained by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting, in the case of Republic of the Philippines vs. Helen Bayog-Saito (GR 247297, Aug. 17, 2022):

“While Philippine law does not allow absolute divorce, a divorce obtained abroad by a foreign spouse may nevertheless be recognized in our jurisdiction, provided such decree is valid according to the national law of the foreigner. The pertinent provision, Article 26 of the Family Code states: x x x

“The provision gives Philippine courts the authority ‘to extend the effect of a foreign divorce decree to a Filipino spouse without undergoing trial to determine the validity of the dissolution of the marriage.’ It bestows upon the Filipino spouse ‘a substantive right to have his or her marriage considered dissolved, granting him or her the capacity to remarry.’ x x x

“Significantly, in the recent case of Galapon v. Republic, (Galapon) the Court clarified that pursuant to the majority ruling in Manalo, paragraph 2, Article 26 of the Family Code applies to mixed marriages where the divorce decree is: (1) obtained by the foreign spouse; (2) obtained jointly by the Filipino and foreign spouse; and (3) obtained solely by the Filipino spouse.

“Here, the divorce was initiated by Toru who asked Helen to sign the divorce notification papers; she agreed by affixing her signature on the documents. In effect, the parties are considered to have obtained divorce by agreement when they mutually agreed to the divorce, which is allowed in Japan. After the acceptance of the divorce notification, the marriage of respondent and Toru has been dissolved as far as the Japanese laws are concerned and Toru is then capacitated to remarry. Pursuant to the Court’s ruling in Manalo and Galapon, even though respondent jointly filed the divorce notification papers with her husband, the divorce decree obtained by the parties may be recognized in our jurisdiction. Hence, the CA was correct in ruling that the legal effects of the foreign divorce decree of the parties may be recognized in our jurisdiction.” (Emphasis supplied)

Accordingly, your brother may pursue filing a petition for recognition of the decree of divorce before our court, provided that he can establish, through sufficient evidence, that their decree of divorce was validly obtained abroad.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated on.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]