Dear IBP Davao,
My husband and I got married in Hong Kong because we were both working there before. I lost my job in 2018 so I came back to Davao City while my husband stayed in Hong Kong. Things are not going well between us and we would like to file an annulment of our marriage. We plan to file a divorce in Hong Kong. Will our Hong Kong divorce be recognized here in the Philippines?
Thank you.
May-Ann
—
Dear May-Ann,
The answer would depend whether you and your husband are both Filipino or one is a foreigner at the time the divorce is filed.
If both of you are Filipinos at the time of the filing of divorce, then filing a divorce before Hong Kong courts cannot be recognized here in the Philippines. You need to file an annulment of marriage following the provisions of the Family Code of the Philippines.
On the other hand, if one of you is a foreigner at the time the divorce is filed, then a divorce granted by the Hong Kong courts can be recognized here in the Philippines.
The above difference was due to Article 26(2) of the Family Code which states that: “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 likewise have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.”
Before, it is required that the divorce should be filed by the foreign spouse to be valid. But recent Supreme Court decisions overturned the requirement that the divorce decree should have been obtained by the foreign spouse. As ruled in Juego-Sakai vs. Republic (G.R. No. 224015. July 23, 2018),
“We observed that to interpret the word “obtained” to mean that the divorce proceeding must actually be initiated by the alien spouse would depart from the true intent of the legislature and would otherwise yield conclusions inconsistent with the general purpose of Paragraph 2 of Article 26, which is, specifically, to avoid the absurd situation where the Filipino spouse remains married to the alien spouse who, after a foreign divorce decree that is effective in the country where it was rendered, is no longer married to the Filipino spouse. The subject provision, therefore, should not make a distinction for a Filipino who initiated a foreign divorce proceeding is in the same place and in like circumstance as a Filipino who is at the receiving end of an alien initiated proceeding.”
Why is there difference in rules when one spouse is foreign against a marriage where both spouses are Filipinos? This is due to Article 15 of our Civil Code which states that, “Laws 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.” As such, if both spouses are Filipinos, the Philippine laws apply even though the marriage was celebrated abroad.
(IBP Davao Corner is a weekly column of Integrated Bar of the Philippines- Davao Chapter, giving legal advice as part of its legal aid program. The above legal opinion is based solely on the appreciation of the facts and problem given and stated above. The opinion may vary when other facts, circumstances, and situations are stated. You may send your comments and questions to ibpdavao@gmail.com.)
