Recognition of Foreign Divorce in the Philippines

There is a common misconception that while we do not have a divorce law in the Philippines (except under the Muslim Personal Code), a Filipino can obtain a divorce decree or order abroad and be relieved of his or her marital obligations. It must be underscored that under the Family Code, a foreign divorce decree can be recognized in the Philippines only under certain conditions. Besides, such foreign divorce decree or order must first be recognized judicially, meaning, by initiating a court action. I have made a series of videos on recognition of foreign divorce on my YT channel Your_Lawyer and you can watch it here.

Now, bakit ba kailangan pang ipa-recognize ang divorce decree sa Pilipinas?

I can cite 3 reasons:

Una, kung kayo po ay nagbabalak na magpakasal ulit sa Pilipinas, you will need a Certificate of No Marriage o CENOMAR.  If your previous marriage was registered in the Philippines, particularly sa Philippine Statistics Authority o PSA, your previous marriage will remain recorded in the registry.  At base sa inyong record, in the absence of an annotation regarding your foreign divorce, kayo po ay nanatiling kasal pa rin sa inyong dating asawa. You will not be able to obtain a CENOMAR for you to contract another marriage.

Pangalawa, kung kayo po ay nag-asawang muli sa Pilipinas, in one way or another,  nang hindi pa na-recognize ang divorce decree na inisyu ng foreign court or authority, such that, you contracted 2 marriages in the Philippines, you exposed yourself to a criminal liability under the Revised Penal Code. Posible po kayong makasuhan ng bigamy.

At pangatlo, kung kayo po ay sumakabilang-buhay (knock on wood), dahil legally speaking, kayo po ay married pa rin, yung divorced spouse n'yo po ay maituturing na tagapagmana o isa sa mga tagapagmana po ninyo.  Your divorced spouse will be able to share in the absolute community of property or conjugal partnership, and your divorced spouse will also be entitled to inherit from you.

There might be other reasons why you need to have your foreign divorce recognized in the Philippines, but those are the three main reasons that I believe you should look into.

Now, ano ba ang mga  dapat gawin upang maipa-recognize ang foreign divorce sa Pilipinas?

Ang tawag po sa proseso na ito ay Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce. At dahil ito po ay "judicial", ibig sabihin, you will need to file a case in court. Tanging ang korte lamang, particularly ang Regional Trial Court in the Philippines, ang pwedeng mag-issue ng order recognizing a foreign divorce.  That being the case, you will need to engage the services of a lawyer.  Meaning, hindi po ito D-I-Y.

For better understanding, let us simplify the process for the judicial recognition of foreign divorce.

·    First, you need to know if you are qualified to apply for judicial recognition.  That is why you need to watch the video series here dahil na-discuss po natin dito ang mga legal considerations affecting foreign divorce.

·    Second, you need to gather the required documents.  Idi-discuss po natin ito in a while.

·    Third, with the help of your lawyer, you need to file the petition in court.  Ang sabi ng Supreme Court, you can file a petition for Cancellation or Correction of Entries in the Civil Registry under Rule 108 of the Revised Rules of Court. Required po dito ang publication sa newspaper of general circulation in the province. I will not discuss this in detail dahil ipapaliwanag naman po ito sa inyo ng inyong abogado.  This petition is filed in the Regional Trial Court of the province kung saan nai-rehistro ang inyong kasal.

·    Then fourth, you will have to appear in court to testify.  That is why if someone, a fixer or a broker, is offering you legal services at nangangakong makukuha nyo ang court order at PSA Certified copy ng inyong marriage contract with annotation of divorce decree in a very short period of time, say 3 months or 4 months, without court appearance, be so scared. That is a scam. Except for the very remote instances kung saan someone else can testify in court on your behalf, kayo po talaga as a petitioner ang kailangang magti-testify sa korte to prove your case. And expect that you will be subjected to cross-examination by the government lawyer, either from the Office of the Solicitor General or the deputized prosecutor.   Kaya mag-ingat po kayo especially sa mga online fixers at scammers. Hindi po totoo yung "no-appearance" required.

·   Fifth, once you are done with the presentation of your evidence and the case is submitted for decision, kailangan n'yo lang pong hintayin ang decision ng korte.  Kung na-comply nyo naman po lahat ng mga procedural at substantive na requirements, the Court will most likely grant the petition.

·     Sixth, kung final and executory na ang decision, you need to obtain a copy of the Certificate of Finality dahil kakailanganin n'yo rin ito sa pag-submit ng documents sa PSA.

·   And the final step is for you to obtain a copy of the certified true copy of your Certificate of Marriage from the PSA which contains the annotation of your duly recognized foreign divorce decree.

Now, what are the documents that you need to prepare? It will be a big help if you already have the documents ready when you see your lawyer. If, however, there are things that you need to produce or to prepare, your lawyer should be able to assist you on them.

But allow me to take up the basic documentary requirements when you file a petition for judicial recognition of a foreign divorce decree.  At the minimum, you will need the following:

•     A certified true copy of the marriage certificate registered in the Philippines. Ito po yung galing sa Philippine Statistics Authority o PSA. If the marriage was celebrated abroad, the official marriage certificate or record from the foreign country. If a copy was filed with the Philippine consulate, a copy of the Report of Marriage.

• A certified copy of the divorce decree, order, or decision duly translated to English if in another language.  Kailangan din pong naka- Apostille ito kung ang bansa kung saan kayo nakakuha ng divorce decree ay member ng Apostille Convention, katulad ng United States; kung hindi po ito member ng Apostille Convention, katulad ng Canada, dapat ay authenticated ito ng Philippine Consular Office sa bansang yun.  Alamin nyo po yung mga apostille requirements na applicable sa inyong country of residence. Guidance can usually be found with the Office of the Secretary of State or such equivalent office in your state or country of residence.

•     Next is a certified copy of the specific law on divorce in the country where it was obtained.  Kailangan pong ito ay duly translated to English if it is in another language. For example, if nasa Japanese language po ito, dapat may English translation po ito.  Kailangan ding duly authenticated ito ng Philippine Consular Office or apostillized if the country where the divorce decree was obtained is a member of the apostille convention. Dapat naka-indicate po sa foreign divorce law that the parties to the divorce can remarry.

•      Next, proofs of citizenship of the parties.  Remember, it must be established that one of the spouses was an alien or foreigner at the time of the divorce for Article 26 of the Family Code to apply.  Article 26 capacitates the Filipino spouse to remarry once the foreign divorce decree is judicially recognized in the Philippines and registered with the PSA.

Please take note po na magkakaiba po ang mga batas at polisiya ng bawat bansa pagdating sa divorce. That is why, magkakaiba rin ang mga divorce documents na ginagamit.  To give you an example, in Japan, the mayor is authorized to accept the divorce. That is why the Supreme Court, in Republic vs. Kikuchi, considered a duly authenticated Certificate of Acceptance issued by the Sakado City Mayor as sufficient evidence of divorce obtained in Japan.

(Republic of the Philippines v. Jocelyn Asusano Kikuchi, as represented by her Attorney-In-Fact, Edwin E. Asusano, G.R. No. 243646. June 22, 2022)