Some Filipinos want and do get married outside the Philippines. There’s nothing really strange with this, except when they say that the reason is for convenience in getting a divorce abroad. This is strange for two main reasons:
1. Divorce is not recognized under Philippine laws. If you’re a Filipino, it doesn’t matter where you get a divorce – such divorce is invalid/void in the Philippines. This is because under the nationality principle (Art. 15, Civil Code), all Filipinos – where they may be in the world - are bound by Philippine laws on family rights and duties, status, condition, and legal capacity. Yes, folks, you can run, but you can’t hide.Nevertheless, divorce decrees secured outside the Philippines are recognized in certain instances. This is provided in Article 26 (Paragraph 2) of the Family Code, which reads in full:
ART. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35(1), (4), (5) and (6), 36, 37 and 38.
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 capacity to remarry under Philippine law.
The twin elements for the application of this provision are:
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.
At first glance, Article 26 seems to apply only to a marriage between a Filipino and a foreigner. This was raised by a respected commentator in family law, Justice Sempio-Diy, who noted that Art. 26 does not apply:
…to a divorce obtained by a former Filipino who had been naturalized in another country after his naturalization, as it might open the door to rich Filipinos’ obtaining naturalization abroad for no other reason than to be able to divorce their Filipino spouse (Handbook on the Family Code of the Philippines, 1995 Ed., p. 30).
However, this provision was later interpreted by the Supreme Court to include cases involving parties who, at the time of the celebration of the marriage were Filipino citizens, but later on, one of them becomes naturalized as a foreign citizen and obtains a divorce decree. The reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry. (Philippines vs. Orbecido III, G.R. No. 154380, 5 October 2005).
2. Marriage is supposed to be forever. From an idealistic non-legal standpoint, the sole reason for marriage should be love; the kind of love that transcends time and withstands any impediments that life throws our way. From a legal perspective, on the other hand, no less than the Philippine Constitution (Art. XV, Sec. 2) and the Family Code (Art. 1) expressly characterize marriage as the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution. The law states that it is a special contract of a permanent union between a man and a woman (sorry, same sex marriage is not yet recognized in the Philippines). It is inviolable. It is permanent. In short, you don’t think of divorce when you get married.
You may also want to read these related posts:
Steps and Procedure in Annulment and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage by Atty. Fred on September 30th, 2006
Effects of Foreign Divorce on Filipino Spouse by Joselito Basilio on November 7th, 2006
Annulment, Divorce and Legal Separation in the Philippines: Questions and Answers by Atty. Fred on January 11th, 2007
Magdalena, I’m sorry to hear about your predicament. This is something that you should be discussing with him pursuant to the high level of trust that’s required in the attorney-client relationship. I strongly recommend that you talk to him first and ask for an explanation for the delay and the need for additional funds. Settle this matter among yourselves before even thinking of bringing in others into the picture. Good luck and God bless.
i filed my annulment last feb 2006 my lawyer asked me for 150 thousand pesos and he said he need half of the price to manage everything but since i work in china he asked for 100 thou as initial deposit and he signed the contract that he get 100 thou from me…and in that contract he says im going to pay the remaining balance when the i get the decision of the court but starting nov 2006 he asked for the rest of the money which in the contract he can only get it when i have the decision but he said he need it to facilitate my case….i dont have choice i still give him the money and he said the 150 thou is not really enough is that true? i gave the rest of the money last jan 2007 and he the decision will be end of feb but upto now i still dont have it they his a lier!and now he still keep on telling me lies is the any chance i can sue my lawyer?
Debbieh, as a rule, a record of the divorce with the NSO means that the parties are no longer married. However, please don’t take this as automatically applicable to your case. I’m not really too familiar with Muslim laws, although I understand that the Code of “Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines”, as far as marriage and divorce are concerned, applies where both parties are Muslim (or the male is Muslim) and the marriage is solemnized in accordance with Muslim law. Even for marriages solemnized under the Family Code, and not under Muslim laws, an annulment or declaration of nullity requires, among others, the partition and distribution of the properties (in case of non-compliance, the subsequent marriage is null and void). Maybe we’ll have subsequent articles on this matter.
Eiruj, kindly consult first with the lawyer (even if pro bono) who handled your case. Ask him/her what happened. Good luck.
Atty. Fred,
Thanks for your reply i appreciate that and hopefully you wont get tired to reply all my messages and questions, you really help me a lot. Anyway, my ex-husband went to the court and annulled our marriage but i wasn’t there cause i have no idea that i have a court hearing so my bono attorney didnt inform me about it. so is there any chance that i could contest it to the court? cause all my papers are really original from NSO and still got the original receipt for it? thanks for your effort for helping me. God bless you.
Sir i am married under the civil law here in the philippines but my husband is a muslim convert after we got married and now he petition for divorce and it’s already granted by the shari’a law and when i asked a copy of our marriage contract at the NSO office there is annotation already that it severed terminated is it mean i am single?
debbie
Eiruj, I also hope that you’ll find your answers. Anyway, I also know someone who has two set of records (birth certificate) with the NSO; the only difference is the spelling of her name (well, plus the date when the registration docs were prepared and the name of the person who caused the registration). There’s a no-fault divorce in the U.S., so it may not be necessary to dig deeper into the previous status of a person. In other words, I guess your concern is not really limited to divorce, and that’s precisely why we can’t go further.
Atty. Fred,
Yes, I really understood. But i just really need answers for that questions. i was just really confused, i hope i could find answers for that. hoping to hear from you soon. have a good day
eiruj03, here’s my dilemma. In order to effectively address your concerns, I have to ask some questions. However, I can’t go analyzing your problem, asking more questions and giving an opinion - we’re prohibited from doing so. I really hope you understand.
Atty. Fred,
i was just so confused cause i was married to a filipino before i married to a US citizen. i was married to filipino with a different spelling of my name and the middle initial. then i was married to a US citizen in my real birth name. i didnt get any papers from NSO that i was married before so when i filed a Proof of singleness, i got one that says that I was never been married. so me and the US citizen got married in the philippines with the judge. so now my american husband he lied to everybody he used my past as his ground for filing a divorce cause he just said that i was just used him he told everybody that im still married in the Philippines he said i have a secret to him its very hurting but i know he can do everything what he want cause he said hes gonna use all his power and now he got the paper that saying that i was married in the philippines before him i just wondering how he got it cause i went to NSO so many times to get my own papers but i never got one. Yes, he got one but its just different spelling of my name. so i just wanted to know if this is still acceptable or just the same when it comes to legal matters cause i have all my original papers that we’r married and the original proof of singleness and i also got the receipts of all the papers i got from NSO cause he said all are coin jobs. plsss help me. thank you
Blu2luv, if you’ve gone through this article, as well as the related topics in this site, you’ll note that Article 26 of the Family Code is clear that the exception applies only when the foreigner-spouse (or the former Filipino spouse) secures the divorce. Still, this is not a legal advice; we’re not allowed to give any in this Forum. Good luck.