By: Atty. Bernice Joana Piñol-Rodriguez

One common query I encounter in my practice, particularly from Filipinos married to foreigners, revolves around the legal status of their marriage in the Philippines after a divorce obtained abroad. Imagine this scenario: you married a foreigner, and after some years, your marriage ended in a divorce granted by a foreign court. Your ex-spouse moves on and remarries, while you remain legally bound by the marriage under Philippine law. Essentially, you’re divorced abroad but still married here.

This situation can be incredibly frustrating and unfair. Being legally married in the Philippines means you cannot remarry, apply for certain legal benefits as a single person, or fully move on with your life. It also means that any legal implications tied to your marital status, such as inheritance rights and spousal support obligations, remain in effect.

Navigating the complexities of marriage laws can be daunting, especially when it involves different jurisdictions. The good news is that there is a legal remedy for this predicament: the Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce. This legal process allows a Filipino citizen to have a foreign divorce recognized in the Philippines, thus legally dissolving the marriage in the eyes of Philippine law.

Generally, divorce is not allowed in the Philippines, but a marriage between a Filipino and a foreigner is an exception. In cases where at least one of the couple was a non-Filipino at the time of divorce, the divorce may be recognized here, regardless of whether the divorce was obtained by the Filipino or by the non-Filipino

So, what exactly is Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce? Essentially, it is a legal proceeding wherein a Filipino spouse requests a Philippine court to acknowledge and enforce a foreign divorce decree. This process is only applicable to mixed marriages – where one spouse is a Filipino and the other is a foreigner at the time of the divorce.

This is based on paragraph two of Article 26 of the Family Code of the Philippines: “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 the capacity to remarry under Philippine law.”

To initiate this process, you will need the assistance of a lawyer to prepare and file a Petition for Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce with the Regional Trial Court in the place where your marriage was registered. This proceeding falls under special proceedings based on Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. The essence of the proceeding lies in proving two key elements: the fact of the divorce and the national law of the foreign spouse concerning marriage and divorce. It is not simply a matter of presenting a copy of your foreign divorce decree to a Philippine government office. Both the foreign divorce and the foreign divorce law must be proven in court.

The question then arises: when can you file for this recognition? Firstly, the marriage must be a mixed one, involving a Filipino citizen and a foreign national. Secondly, the divorce must have been legally obtained by either the Filipino or the foreign spouse. A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of Republic v. Manalo (G.R. No. 221029, April 24, 2018) has made this process more straightforward. The Court held that a Filipino citizen could file for the recognition of a foreign divorce, provided the marriage involved a foreign national. This means that even if you, as the Filipino spouse, initiated the divorce abroad, you could still seek its recognition in the Philippines.

Thirdly, the divorce must capacitate the foreign spouse to remarry, which means that under the foreign spouse’s national law, they must be allowed to remarry after the divorce. Proving these aspects can be challenging, which is why legal expertise is crucial as well as the cooperation of the client.

Once the court grants your petition, your marriage will be considered legally dissolved in the Philippines, freeing you from the legal bonds of matrimony and allowing you to move forward with your life without the need for an annulment or declaration of nullity of marriage.

Navigating this legal maze can be overwhelming, but with the right guidance and legal support, you can achieve the clarity and freedom you deserve. This process underscores the importance of understanding and asserting your legal rights, especially in the complex interplay of domestic and international laws.

Remember, the journey to legal resolution and personal closure may be intricate, but it is not insurmountable. By seeking judicial recognition of foreign divorce, you take a definitive step towards reclaiming your life and embracing new possibilities.