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Sample Legal Opinion by Atty Ralph Sarmiento
Sample Legal Opinion by Atty Ralph Sarmiento
27 November 2011
This legal opinion seeks to answer your question as to whether or not you
can now remarry under Philippine law after discovering that your wife had been
naturalized as an American citizen and had obtained a divorce decree and then
married a certain Innocent Stanley.
The Facts
Per our discussion and the documents you have shown me, the following
are the pertinent facts:
On May 24, 1991, you married Myra Santos in the Philippines. Your
marriage was blessed with a son Miguel Enriquez.
In 1996, your wife left for the United States bringing along your son
Miguel. A few years later, you discovered that your wife had been naturalized as
an American citizen. Sometime in 2010, you learned from your son that your wife
had obtained a divorce decree and then married a certain Innocent Stanley.
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Dean, College of Law, University of St. La Salle www.facebook.com/attyralph
On its face, the foregoing provision does not appear to directly govern
your situation. It seems to apply only to cases where at the time of the
celebration of the marriage, the parties are a Filipino citizen and a foreigner.
Your case, on the other hand, is one where at the time the marriage was
solemnized, the parties were two Filipino citizens, but later on, the wife was
naturalized as an American citizen and subsequently obtained a divorce granting
her capacity to remarry, and indeed she remarried an American citizen while
residing in the U.S.
Will this same principle apply to your case? The jurisprudential answer lies
latent in the 1998 case of QUITA v. COURT OF APPEALS (G.R. No. 124862, 22
December 1998, 300 SCRA 406). In Quita, the parties were, as in your case,
Filipino citizens when they got married. The wife became a naturalized American
citizen in 1954 and obtained a divorce in the same year. The Supreme Court
therein hinted, although by way of obiter dictum only, that a Filipino divorced by
his naturalized foreign spouse is no longer married under Philippine law and can
thus remarry.
Thus, taking into consideration the legislative intent and applying the rule
of reason, Paragraph 2 of Article 26 would apply to your case because it should
be interpreted to include cases involving parties who, at the time of the
celebration of the marriage were Filipino citizens, but later on, one of them
becomes naturalized as a foreign citizen and obtains a divorce decree. The
Filipino spouse should likewise be allowed to remarry as if the other party were a
foreigner at the time of the solemnization of the marriage.
Hence, the reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time
of the celebration of the marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce
is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry.
Recommendation
Likewise, it is also a rule under Philippine law that before a foreign divorce
decree can be recognized by our own courts, the party pleading it must prove the
divorce as a fact and demonstrate its conformity to the foreign law allowing it.
Such foreign law must also be proved as our courts cannot take judicial notice of
foreign laws (GARCIA v. RECIO, G.R. No. 138322, 2 October 2001, 366 SCRA
437).
Furthermore, you must also show that the divorce decree allows your ex-
wife to remarry as specifically required in Article 26. Otherwise, there would be
no evidence sufficient to declare that you are capacitated to enter into another
marriage.
For the said purpose, we recommend the filing of a Petition for Declaratory
Relief based on Section 1 of Rule 63 of the Rules of Court. The said provision
states:
I am of the considered opinion that the said requisites are all present.
First, your case clearly presents a justiciable controversy concerning the
applicability of Paragraph 2 of Article 26 to a marriage between two Filipino
citizens where one later acquired alien citizenship, obtained a divorce decree,
and remarried while in the U.S.A. Second, the State, which will be a party to the
petition will necessarily assert its duty to protect the institution of marriage while
you, a private citizen, will insist on a declaration of your capacity to remarry;
hence adverse interests will be involved. Third, you, as the party who will be
praying for relief, clearly have legal interest in the controversy. Lastly, the issue is
also ripe for judicial determination inasmuch as when you remarry, litigation will
ensue and put into question the validity of your second marriage.
I appreciate the opportunity to advise you regarding this matter. Please let
me know if you wish to discuss any of these issues further. Thank you.
Yours faithfully,