Under Philippine jurisdiction, divorce is not an option of ending the validity of a marriage. Even if a divorce decree is validly acquired by a Filipino in a foreign country, will not in effect dissolve his marriage. On the other hand, it shall be different in case of marriages between a Filipino and a foreigner and the divorce decree was obtained by the foreigner spouse.
Paragraph 2, Article 26 of the Family Code of the Philippines provides:
“Article 26. xxx
Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce decree is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law.”
The divorce decree shall not be automatically recognized here as our courts do not take judicial notice of foreign laws and judgment. It shall be necessary first to prove and allege both the divorce decree and your national law according to our law on evidence (Garcia vs. Recio, GR No. 138322, October 02, 2001).
To have the divorce recognized here in the Philippines, your ex-wife shall need to file a petition before our courts for the recognition of the divorce decree that you obtained in your country. She must be able to prove in the said petition the divorce as a fact and demonstrate its conformity to your law which issued it. It must also be shown in the petition that you were also given the capacity under your laws to remarry by virtue of the divorce decree that was issued to you (Republic vs. Orbecido, GR No. 154380, October 05, 2005).
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4 Responses
Good day po…
Kasal po ko sa isang japanese parang attorney lang din nagkasal samin sa isang agency which is close na…after ng kasal namin the next day umuwi na agad ng Japan si hapon at di na kami nagkita ulit nangyari yong kasal 2012 since then wala na kami communication.
Panu po mapapawalang bisa yong kasal na yon e halos 8years na kaming walang communication and never naman kami nagsama sa iisang bahay wala rin kami anak.
Please help me.
Thank you!
Gudevening po atty.. ask ko lng po kung anu ung first step gagawin ko kc po married po ako dto sa pinas sa koreano pro divorce na po ako sa korea.. ang problema ko po paano ko fafile dto sa pinas ung divorce ko?
Maraming salamat po sa tugon and more powers to u atty..
im a filipino and was married to my ex singaporean husband in registry of marriage singapore and i have submitted our marriage certificate to our embassy in singapore. it is unfortunate that the marriage failed and i have petitioned for a divorce in singapore court in which it was granted with finality in 2010. now i would like to ask how can i change my status here in the philippines.. it seems i cannot even revert back to my maiden name. i have been separated from my ex husband for 17yrs although it was only in 2009 ive applied for the divorce. i dont have any correspondence with my ex husband since then. appreciate if you can give me insights on my situation.
Good day!
I have a few question lang po.. we got married po last Nov 28,2016. After that bumalik na po sya ng canada kung saan sya po ay citizen na po dun.. sadly nag hiwalay po kami verbaly last july 2018 and may gf na po sya ngaun sa canada. Anyway he have a baby boy din po 4yrs old. Now im planning na mag file ng annulment for the legality kaso po ayaw po nya at ang gusto nya pong mangyare is magpunta muna kami ng canda at dun mag divorce which is ayaw ko kasi dun nya po kami pinatitira sa relatives nya since live in nman po sila ng gf nya. Posible po ba na magrant ang annulment nmin kahit di sya mag agree!? Maraming salamat po