G.R. No. 227605 , December 5, 2019
IN RE: PETITION FOR JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF DIVORCE BETWEEN MINURO TAKAHASHI AND JULIET RENDORA MORAÑA, JULIET RENDORA MORAÑA, PETITIONER, VS. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

Petitioner Juliet Rendora Moraña, a Filipino citizen, sought judicial recognition in the Philippines of a divorce decree obtained in Japan. The divorce was granted by the Office of the Mayor of Fukuyama City, Japan, upon a joint application filed by Moraña and her Japanese husband, Minuro Takahashi.

ISSUE

Whether the divorce decree obtained jointly by a Filipino citizen and her alien spouse abroad may be recognized in the Philippines under Article 26(2) of the Family Code.

RULING

Yes. The Concurring Opinion of Justice Caguioa agrees with the grant of the petition. The opinion posits that Article 26(2) of the Family Code is a narrow exception to the nationality principle (Article 15, Civil Code), intended to remedy the unfair situation where a foreign spouse obtains a divorce, leaving the Filipino spouse trapped in a marriage. The opinion clarifies that a divorce decree granted upon a joint application by the parties in a mixed marriage is still considered one “obtained by the alien spouse,” albeit with the Filipino spouse’s conformity. Since the twin requisites for applying Article 26(2) are present—(1) a valid marriage between a Filipino and a foreigner, and (2) a valid divorce obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry—the divorce decree may be recognized, and its effects extended to the Filipino spouse.