5. WONG WOO YIU alias NG YAO, petitioner vs HON.

MARTINIANO P. VIVO, respondents

GR No. 21076, March 31, 1965

TOPIC: Ignorance of the Law; Ignorance of the Foreign

Law is not Ignorance; Doctrine of Processual Presumption.

FACTS:

Petitioner, a Chinese citizen, was married to his husband in

China by a village leader – according to Chinese law is
regarded as valid. She came to the Philippines to join her
husband but was refused entry by immigration authorities
on the ground of the lack of proof on the legality of their
marriage.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the marriage of petitioner be recognized as

valid in the Philippines.

HELD:

No.

No validity can be given to their marriage because no proof

was presented relative to the law of marriage in China.

Such being the case, we should apply the general rule that
in the absence of proof of the law of a foreign country it
should be presumed that it is the same as our own.

Since it is well-known that a village leader cannot perform

a marriage in the country, the allegation of the petitioner
does not hold.

Thus, their marriage cannot be recognized as valid in the

Philippines.