Q. First of all, may God bless you for helping people in all their problems. I am divorced and planning to get married soon. My first marriage was in the Philippines. My question is, am I allowed to marry again in the Philippines? I am a Canadian citizen, by the way. I don’t know if that matters. Thank you very much ! MARITESS
1. Hi Maritess ! Thank your for writing. Just to clarify things. You claimed to be a divorcee. This column assumes that at the time you were able to secure your divorce you were already a Canadian Citizen. And that this divorce pertains to your first marriage in the Philippines.
As a rule and based on the above premise, your divorce in Canada in effect dissolved your first marriage in the Philippines. As such, you may legally get married in the Philippines again.
However, there are formalities that you have to undertake further in the Philippines before the divorce decree or judgment issued by Canadian Court can be recognized and enforceable in the Philippines.
Under the laws of the Philippines, a divorce obtained abroad by a non-Filipino citizen may be recognized as long as such divorce decree or judgment is valid according to the national law of the divorcee.
In the case of Garcia vs. Recio , the Philippine Supreme court laid down the specific guidelines for pleading and proving foreign law and divorce judgment in Court. The court ruled that “presentation of solely of the divorce decree is insufficient and proof of its authenticity and due execution must be presented. Mere submission of the copies of Divorce purportedly showing the dissolution of the marriage to the Filipino spouse cannot be taken as material and relevant enough to be given judicial notice of foreign laws by the Philippine courts as they must be alleged and proved in according with the rules of procedure and evidence. “
Based on the above ruling of the court , you need therefore the services of a lawyer in the Philippines in order to prove the fact of such divorce according to the rules of evidence, in Philippine jurisdiction, as held in the said recent case of Garcia vs. Recio, G.R. No.138322, October 2, 2001, 366 SCRA 437.
Thus, be sure to make handy the proof of your citizenship and the Divorce Decree/Judgment duly authenticated by the Canadian Court who issued it and as well the authentication of other relevant documents by the Philippine consulate in Canada.
What is paramount in your situation is that at the time you were able to secure your divorce, you were already a Canadian citizen. Otherwise, that divorce cannot have a binding and legal effect in Philippine jurisdiction.
And if the one you are marrying in the Philippines is a Filipino citizen, you will also be required to secure from the Canadian Consulate in the Philippines, a Certificate of Capacity to Marry under Canadian law. This certificate will be required when applying for marriage license in the Philippines.
As a rule, there is NO NEED for your to initiate annulment of your previous marriage in the Philippines should you decide to get married there. However, and considering that you will be sponsoring your spouse later to Canada, it is more prudent for immigration purposes, to file a petition in court in the Philippines, for judicial recognition of your divorce decree issued by the Canadian Court as mentioned above.
This process could save you a lot of time and hassle in dealing with the bureaucracy in the Philippines more particularly in your application for the issuance of marriage license.
This procedure is summary in nature and will not take much time. Once, the Philippine court issue the recognition of the Divorce Judgment or Decree issued by the Canadian court, it will also order the Civil Register General of the Philippines, through National Census and statistics Office (NCSO) to enter into record that your previous marriage, as a Canadian Citizen has been terminated or resolved by virtue of your divorced in Canada thus capacitating you to marry again in the Philippines.
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