Dear PAO,
I am a Filipina currently living in Metro Manila. My boyfriend used to be married to another Filipina, whom he married sometime in 2011. After their wedding, he migrated to the United States alone. Thereafter, my boyfriend filed for divorce from his now ex-wife, and they have been estranged since. Recently, my boyfriend became a naturalized US citizen. My boyfriend and I are wondering whether it is possible to have their divorce decree recognized in the Philippines so that he could marry me here next year.
-Sal
Dear Sal,
Article 15 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines provides that “[l]aws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.”
Because Philippine laws do not provide for absolute divorce, marriages between Filipino citizens, whether they are in the country or living abroad, cannot be dissolved even by an absolute divorce obtained abroad.
As an exception thereto, however, Article 26 of the Family Code of the Philippines allows a Filipino spouse to remarry under Philippine law once a valid divorce decree between said Filipino spouse and the foreign spouse has been obtained, regardless of who between the parties initiated the proceedings, thereby capacitating the parties to remarry.
To fall within the contemplation of the above-stated provision, however, it is essential that the following twin elements be present: “1) There is a valid marriage that has been celebrated between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner; and 2) A valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry.” (Republic of the Philippines v. Cipriano Orbecido III, GR 154380, Oct. 5, 2005, Ponente: Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing)
In your boyfriend’s case, because he filed for and was granted a divorce at a time when he was still a Filipino citizen, both elements required for the application of Article 26 of the Family Code are patently lacking. There was no marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner at the time of the divorce, and the divorce was not obtained by an alien spouse. Thus, the divorce decree between him and his ex-wife cannot be judicially recognized nor subsequently be given legal effects in our jurisdiction, which means that their marriage remains subsisting in the eyes of the law.
It would have been different if your boyfriend had already acquired a US citizenship prior to his filing for divorce. In such a case, there would still have been a valid marriage being celebrated between him, a foreign citizen by virtue of his naturalization as such, and his ex-wife, a Filipino citizen, prior to obtaining a divorce decree. If granted one, he could have had the foreign judgment judicially recognized in the Philippines, which would have allowed both him and his ex-wife to remarry under their respective laws.
This is precisely because, in applying paragraph 2 of Article 26 of the Family Code of the Philippines, “[t]he reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of the celebration of the marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry. (Republic of the Philippines v. Cipriano Orbecido III, GR 154380, Oct. 5, 2005, Ponente: Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing)
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net
