FOREIGN DIVORCE DECREES OBTAINED TO NULLIFY MARRIAGES BETWEEN A
FILIPINO AND AN ALIEN CITIZEN RECOGNIZED IN THIS JURISDICTION
Luzviminda Dela Cruz Morisono V. Ryoji Morisono
G.R. No. 226013, July 02, 2018
Perlas-Bernabe, J.
DOCTRINE:
Foreign divorce decrees obtained to nullify marriages between a Filipino and
an alien citizen may already be recognized in this jurisdiction, regardless of who
between the spouses initiated the divorce; provided, of course, that the party
petitioning for the recognition of such foreign divorce decree – presumably the
Filipino citizen – must prove the divorce as a fact and demonstrate its conformity to
the foreign law allowing it.
FACTS:
Petitioner Luzviminda Dela Cruz was married to private respondent Ryoji Morisono
(Ryoji) in Quezon City on December 8, 2009. They lived together in Japan for one (1) year
and three (3) months but were not blessed with a child. During their married life, they
would constantly quarrel mainly due to Ryoji's philandering ways, in addition to the fact
that he was much older than Luzviminda. As such, she and Ryoji submitted a "Divorce by
Agreement" before the City Hall of Mizuho-Ku, Nagoya City, Japan, which was approved on
January 17, 2012 and duly recorded with the Head of Mizuho-Ku of said City on July 1,
2012. Thereafter, she filed a petition for recognition of the foreign divorce decree obtained
by her and Ryoji before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 105 (RTC) so that
she could cancel the surname of her former husband in her passport and for her to be able
to marry again. On July 18, 2016, the RTC denied Luzviminda's petition. Invoking the
nationality principle provided under Article 15 of the Civil Code, in relation to Article 26 (2)
of the Family Code, the RTC opined that since petitioner is a Filipino citizen whose national
laws do not allow divorce, the foreign divorce decree she herself obtained in Japan is not
binding in the Philippines;] hence, this petition.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the petitioner, a Filipino citizen, is allowed to file an action for the
recognition of a foreign divorce decree she procured together with her alien husband?
RULING:
YES. The petitioner, a Filipino citizen, is allowed to file a petition for the recognition of
a foreign divorce decree she procured. The Court ruled that in the recent case of Republic v.
Manalo (Manalo) the Court En Banc extended the application of Article 26 (2) of the Family
Code to further cover mixed marriages where it was the Filipino citizen who divorced his/her
foreign spouse. Pertinent portions of the ruling read:
“x x x
To reiterate, the purpose of Paragraph 2 of Article 26 is 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 provision is a corrective measure to address an anomaly where the
Filipino spouse is tied to the marriage while the foreign spouse is free to marry under the laws
of his or her country. Whether the Filipino spouse initiated the foreign divorce proceeding or
not, a favorable decree dissolving the marriage bond and capacitating his or her alien spouse
to remarry will have the same result: the Filipino spouse will effectively be without a husband
or wife. 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.
Therefore, the subject provision should not make a distinction. In both instance, it is extended
as a means to recognize the residual effect of the foreign divorce decree on Filipinos whose
marital ties to their alien spouses are severed by operation of the latter’s national law.”
In this case, a plain reading of the RTC ruling shows that the denial of Luzviminda's
petition to have her foreign divorce decree recognized in this jurisdiction was anchored on
the sole ground that she admittedly initiated the divorce proceedings which she, as a Filipino
citizen, was not allowed to do. In light of the doctrine laid down in Manalo, such ground relied
upon by the RTC had been rendered nugatory.
Thus, pursuant to Manalo, foreign divorce decrees obtained to nullify marriages
between a Filipino and an alien citizen may already be recognized in this jurisdiction,
regardless of who between the spouses initiated the divorce; provided, of course, that the
party petitioning for the recognition of such foreign divorce decree – presumably the Filipino
citizen – must prove the divorce as a fact and demonstrate its conformity to the foreign law
allowing it.
