The Philippines holds the distinction of being the only country in the entire world that does not have divorce law apart from the city state of Vatican. Vatican necessarily does not have divorce because first, it is a Catholic state and the church is against it. Second, most if not all residents of the Vatican have made their vow of celibacy which makes divorce pointless. Recently, the lower house supposedly passed the country’s divorce bill opening the possibility for the country to have its divorce bill. Those who intend to have their marriage dissolved and remarry are without recourse. Annulment and declaration of nullity are available to them in applicable cases. They can even have divorce from another country and have it recognized here, capacitating them to remarry. It appears simple: obtain a divorce decree from another country and have it recognized in the Philippines. There are, however, some issues that need clarification such as the case of Republic vs. Ng (G.R. No. 249238, February 27, 2024)
Foreign Divorce
The case is very simple. Ruby and Akihiro (Japanese Citizen) married in the Philippines and they had a child. They later moved to Japan and their relationship turned sour and ended up having divorce by “mutual agreement”. Ruby came home to the Philippines and later registered the divorce decree with the Civil Registry of Manila. She then filed a petition in the Regional Trial Court for the recognition of the divorce decree so she can be capacitated to marry. She then presented her evidences ex-parte after a general default. The RTC granted the petition of Ruby but the Republic of the Philippines filed a motion for reconsideration which was denied. The Republic went directly to the Supreme Court on the question of whether the RTC was valid.
Divorce by “mutual agreement” is valid here
The Republic’s argument is that the divorce was not obtained through an adversarial proceeding but through mutual agreement. The Supreme Court clarified that: “the Court clarified that pursuant to the majority ruling in Manalo, Article 26(2) of the Family Code applies to mixed marriages where the divorce decree is: (1) obtained by the foreign spouse; (2) obtained jointly by the Filipino and foreign spouse; and (3) obtained solely by the Filipino spouse.” (Republic v. Manalo, 831 Phil. 33, 51 (2018). To be clear, even if it is the Filipino spouse who obtains a divorce decree, the same is valid and may be recognized in the Philippines. Divorce does not always involve bitterness or animosity but can even be ended amicably between the spouses as in this case. There is no requirement mentioned in our laws that divorce proceedings have to be adversarial in order that they may be recognized here. In addition, the SC said: “If such decree is valid according to the national law of the foreign spouse, the legal effects thereof may be recognized in our jurisdiction. Considering that the dissolution of their marriage under the laws of Japan capacitated the alien spouse to remarry, the Court found no reason to deprive the Filipino spouse of her legal capacity to remarry under our own laws.”
The Supreme Court granted the petition of the Republic for Certiorari but ordered that the case be remanded to the trial court for reception of evidence on the laws of Japan regarding family relations which was not presented or proved during the trial.