The Supreme Court of the Philippines recently clarified that a recognition of divorce in the Philippines is not limited to divorce decrees ordered by a foreign courts and includes divorces obtained upon agreement of the parties without a court order.
A judicial recognition of divorce in the Philippines is allowed in those cases where one of the parties to a marriage is a foreign national. This is based on the principle of comity under international law where the court of one country gives due deference to the divorce process in another country.
The documents required in a Petition for Recognition of Divorce in the Philippines are :
a) A Brief Marital History;
b) A certified true copy of the marriage certificate registered in the Philippines or in another country and registered with a Philippine consulate;
c) A certified copy of the divorce decree, order, or decision duly translated to English if in another language, duly authenticated by Apostille. Please refer to the apostille requirements applicable in your place of residence. Guidance can usually be found with the Office of the Secretary of State or such equivalent office in your state of residence;
d) A certified copy of the specific law on divorce in the country where it was obtained duly translated to English if in another language, duly authenticated by Apostille, and should indicate that the parties to the divorce can remarry .Please refer to the apostille requirements applicable in your place of residence. Guidance can usually be found with the Office of the Secretary of State or such equivalent office in your state of residence;
e) Birth Certificates of children, if any;
f) Proof of Residence of the spouse;
g) Proof of Philippine citizenship ( Passport or Certificate of Naturalization) or proof of foreign citizenship;
h) Proof of citizenship of the spouse. ( Passport or authenticated proof of naturalization)
In this case, a Filipino wife and her Japanese husband obtained a decree of divorce by mutual agreement evidenced by a registration of the agreement in the Civil Registry of Japan bearing the stamp of the Mayor of the City of Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan. There were no judicial proceedings or a court order. The Filipino spouse then filed a Petition for Recognition of Divorce before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City which granted the Petition for Recognition of Divorce. This was opposed by the government on the ground that the Family Code allows only a recognition of divorce in those cases decided by court in a foreign county.
This recent case acknowledges the fact that the process of divorce in other countries may not be through a judicial or court process. If the recognition of divorce in the Philippines were to be limited to judicial divorce proceedings in the foreign country then it would restrict the ability of the parties to legally terminate their marriages in the Philippines.
