Dear PAO,
I married a foreigner whose national law allows dissolution of marriage by mutual agreement. We availed ourselves of this kind of divorce and the same was granted. I want to marry my current boyfriend, so I would like to ask if my divorce abroad can be recognized in our country. Someone relayed to me that only a divorce obtained by judicial proceedings can be recognized here in the Philippines. Is this correct?
Deena
Dear Deena,
Mixed marriages dissolved by divorce are specifically governed by Article 26 (2) of the Family Code of the Philippines, which reads:
“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.”
Divorces of whatever kind may be recognized in the Philippines so that the Filipino spouse can remarry. The kind of divorce availed of is immaterial and this was explained in Republic of the Philippines vs. Ng, G.R. No. 249238, February 27, 2024, where the Supreme Court, speaking through Honorable Associate Justice Japar B. Dimaampao, stated that:
“A plain reading of Article 26(2) of the Family Code reveals that it only requires that the divorce be "validly obtained abroad." To insist that the divorce be obtained through judicial proceedings in a foreign jurisdiction is to insert a condition not provided in the law. Indeed, the law does not distinguish between divorces obtained through judicial proceedings and administrative proceedings; or between those where one spouse files for divorce and the other contests it, and those where the divorce is a product of mutual agreement. The plain meaning rule prohibits this Court from imposing its own distinctions and qualifications on the clear and unambiguous language of Article 26(2). xxx”
The Supreme Court went further and stated that:
“xxx Whether a divorce is obtained in a judicial or administrative proceeding, and whether the divorce proceedings are adversarial or by mutual consent, the result of a divorce that is valid under foreign law is the same: the alien spouse is no longer married to the Filipino spouse. The legislative spirit animating Article 26(2) of the Family Code is precisely to correct this anomalous situation where the foreign spouse is free to contract a subsequent marriage while the Filipino spouse cannot. The statutory provision focuses on the effect of the foreign divorce on the Filipino spouse. For indeed, it would be unjust for a Filipino spouse to be prohibited by their own national laws from something that a foreign law may allow.”
Thus, our laws do not distinguish whether the divorce abroad was through judicial or administrative proceeding. What is only required is that the divorce must be validly obtained in accordance with the pertinent laws of such country. Thus, the information relayed to you that only divorce obtained through judicial proceeding can be recognized by the courts in the Philippines has no legal basis.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
