The petition is impressed with merit.

The petition was an action for the correction and/or cancellation of the Marriage
Contract of Spouses Ralph and Mary through the annotation of the “Decree
Granting Absolute Divorce and Awarding Child Custody” (FC-D No. 10-1-
0259) issued by the Family Court of the First Circuit of the State of Hawaii dated
15 November 2011.

While divorce is not legally recognized in the Philippines as between Filipino

citizens, the law recognizes that such divorce is a possibility in marriages between
a Filipino and an alien.1 Hence, the enactment of EO 227, amending Article 26 of
the Family Code which held that:

Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly

celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the
alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall
likewise have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.2

However, such remarriage is not automatic as judicial recognition of a divorce

decree is mandatory in order for any divorced individual to remarry in the
Philippines.

To institute an action for the recognition of the foreign judgment before our courts,
it is necessary that one be directly involve or be the subject of the foreign
judgment. Likewise, the divorce may only be recognized in the country when such
is valid according to the alien’s national law. In relation to such, there is a need to
allege and prove the 1) foreign divorce decree and its authenticity and the foreign
law on divorce as our courts do not take judicial notice of foreign judgments and
laws.3

An important matter to take note is that the recognition of the foreign judgment in
itself does not in any way authorize the cancellation of the entry in the civil
registry. A petition for recognition of a foreign judgment is not the proper
proceeding, contemplated under the Rules of Court, for the cancellation of entries
in the civil registry.4

1
Corpuz v Sto. Tomas, G.R. No. 186571, August 11, 2010.
2
Article 26 (2), Family Code (as amended by EO 227).
3
Corpuz v Sto. Tomas, supra 1.
4
Ibid.
A foreign judgment of divorce is a judicial decree which affects a person’s legal
capacity and status that must be recorded. In fact, Act No. 3753 or the Law on
Registry of Civil Status specifically requires the registration of divorce decrees in
the civil registry.5

Article 412 of the Civil Code provides that "no entry in a civil register shall be
changed or corrected, without judicial order." Supplementing Article 412 is Rule
108 of the Rules of Court which focuses on the correction and/or cancellation of
entries in the civil registry. The rule sets in detail the jurisdictional and procedural
requirements that must be complied with before a judgment, authorizing the
cancellation or correction, may be annotated in the civil registry such as: 1.) the
filing of a verified petition with the RTC of the province where the corresponding
civil registry is located; 2.) that the civil registrar and all persons who have or
claim any interest must be made parties to the proceedings; 3.) and that the time
and place for hearing must be published in a newspaper of general circulation.6

Pwede nimo isuksuk tong input ni Cyrene sa requisites. 😊

However, it shall not be construed that filing of two separate proceedings for the
registration of a foreign divorce decree in the civil registry – one for recognition of
the foreign decree and another specifically for cancellation of the entry under Rule
108 of the Rules of Court is mandatory at all times. In Corpuz v Sto. Tomas, the
Court enunciated that:

The recognition of the foreign divorce decree may be made in a Rule

108 proceeding itself, as the object of special proceedings (such as
that in Rule 108 of the Rules of Court) is precisely to establish the
status or right of a party or a particular fact. Moreover, Rule 108 of
the Rules of Court can serve as the appropriate adversarial
proceeding by which the applicability of the foreign judgment can be
measured and tested in terms of jurisdictional infirmities, want of
notice to the party, collusion, fraud, or clear mistake of law or fact.

Hence, the filing of only Rule 108 which is a special proceeding may be made as it
may include the determination of the applicability of the foreign judgment.

Source:
Corpuz v Sto. Tomas, G.R. No. 186571, August 11, 2010.

5
Id.
6
Id.