SUPREME COURT

Manila
THIRD DIVISION

CURPUZ V. STO. TOMAS

G.R. No. 186571, August 11, 2010

Procedural History:
Gerbert filed a petition for judicial recognition of foreign divorce with the RTC.
RTC denied the petition on the grounds that only Filipinos can file the petition for judicial
recognition of foreign divorce. Petitioner then appealed for certiorari to the SC.

Facts:
Gerbert Corpuz, a former Filipino, acquired Canadian citizenship through
naturalization on Nov. 2000. He later married a Filipina named Daisylyn Sto. Tomas on
Jan. 2005. Gerbert left the Philippines soon after their marriage due to work. On April
2005, Gerbert came back to the Philippines only to find out that Daisylyn was having an
affair with another man. Gerbert filed a petition in Canada for divorce and was granted.
Two years later, Gerbert found out that his marriage to Daisylyn still exists under
Philippine law and that his foreign decree for divorce must be recognized by a Philippine
court.

Issue:
Whether or not the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code grants
aliens like Corpuz the right to institute a petition for judicial recognition of a foreign
divorce decree.

Answer:
Yes, because the foreign divorce decree is presumptive evidence of a right of the
party to have legal interest to petition a recognition of jurisdiction.

Reasoning:
The court stressed that Art. 26 of the Family Code does not strip away the alien
spouse’s right to petition for the recognition of his foreign divorce decree simply
because, under the rules of evidence, the foreign divorce decree after being granted by
his country and proven as a fact here serves as a presumptive evidence and gives him
the right to do so.

Holding:
The petition for review on certiorari and the reversal of the RTC decision was
granted. A remand for further proceedings to the trial court was also ordered.