Divorce predicament

Dear Atty. Angela,

I was married to a Japanese citizen and I filed for divorce in Japan which was granted. I intend to file a petition for cancellation of entry of marriage in the Civil Registry since there is already a judgment of divorce by the Japanese court in my favor. I have a new boyfriend in the Philippines and we plan to get married. Will the divorce be recognized in our country which will give me the legal right to remarry?

Sandra

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Dear Sandra,

Yes, you are given the legal right to remarry. In the landmark case of Republic v Manalo, G.R. 221029 (24 April 2018), the Supreme Court recognized the divorce decree despite the same being obtained by the Filipina spouse. It opined:

"Now, the Court is tasked to resolve whether, under the same provision, a Filipino citizen has the capacity to remarry under Philippine law after initiating a divorce proceeding abroad and obtaining a favorable judgment against his or her alien spouse who is capacitated to remarry."

"Paragraph 2 of Article 26 confers jurisdiction on Philippine courts 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 authorizes our courts to adopt the effects of a foreign divorce decree precisely because the Philippines does not allow divorce. Philippine courts cannot try the case on the merits because it is tantamount to trying a divorce case. Under the principles of comity, our jurisdiction recognizes a valid divorce obtained by a spouse of foreign nationality."

The Supreme Court also explained that the purpose of Paragraph 2 of Article 26 is to avoid the absurd situation where the Filipino spouse remains married to the alien spouse who, after a foreign divorce decree that is effective in the country where it was rendered, is no longer married to the Filipino spouse. The provision is a corrective measure to address an anomaly where the Filipino spouse is tied to the marriage while the foreign spouse is free to marry under the laws of his or her country.

Thus, the High Court no longer makes a distinction whether divorce was obtained by the alien or Filipino spouse. In both instances, our law recognizes the foreign divorce decree on Filipinos whose marital ties to their alien spouses are already severed due to the alien's national law.

Atty. Angela Antonio