Garcia v Recio (Conflict of Laws)

Garcia v Recio
2001

o Article 15 of the Civil Code of the Philippines –

Laws relating to family rights and duties or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons
are binding upon the citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.

o Article 17 (3) Civil Code of the Philippines -

Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those which have for their object
public order, policy and good customs, shall not be rendered ineffective by laws or judgments
promulgated, or by determinations or conventions agreed upon in a foreign country.

o Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in
the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this
country, except those prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and (6), 3637 and 38. (17a)

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 have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.

G.R. No. 138322 October 2, 2001

FACTS:

Rederick A. Recio, a Filipino, was married to Editha Samson, an Australian citizen, in Malabon,
Rizal, on March 1,1987.They lived together as husband and wife in Australia. On May 18,
1989, an Australian family court issued a decree of divorce, purportedly dissolving the marriage.
On June 26, 1992, respondent became an Australian citizen, as shown by a "Certificate of
Australian Citizenship" issued by the Australian government. Petitioner – a Filipina – and
respondent were married on January 12, 1994 in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in
Cabanatuan City. In their application for a marriage license, respondent was declared as "single"
and "Filipino."
On March 3, 1998, petitioner filed a Complaint for Declaration of Nullity of Marriage in the
court a quo, on the ground of bigamy – respondent allegedly had a prior subsisting marriage at
the time he married her on January 12, 1994. She claimed that she learned of respondent's
marriage to Editha Samson only in November, 1997.
DECISION OF LOWER COURT:
(1) Regional Trial Court: declares the marriage between Grace J. Garcia and Rederick A. Recio
solemnized on January 12, 1994 at Cabanatuan City as dissolved and both parties can now
remarry under existing and applicable laws to any and/or both parties

ISSUES:
(1) Whether the divorce between respondent and Editha Samson was proven, and
(2) Whether respondent was proven to be legally capacitated to marry petitioner.

RULING:

(1) No.
At the outset, we lay the following basic legal principles as the take-off points for our discussion.
Philippine law does not provide for absolute divorce; hence, our courts cannot grant it. A
marriage between two Filipinos cannot be dissolved even by a divorce obtained abroad, because
of Articles 15 and 17 of the Civil Code. In mixed marriages involving a Filipino and a foreigner,
Article 26 of the Family Code allows the former to contract a subsequent marriage in case the
divorce is "validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry."

A divorce obtained abroad by an alien may be recognized in our jurisdiction, provided such
decree is valid according to the national law of the foreigner. However, the divorce decree and
the governing personal law of the alien spouse who obtained the divorce must be proven. Our
courts do not take judicial notice of foreign laws and judgment; hence, like any other facts, both
the divorce decree and the national law of the alien must be alleged and proven according to our
law on evidence.
Under Sections 24 and 25 of Rule 132, on the other hand, a writing or document may be proven
as a public or official record of a foreign country by either (1) an official publication or (2) a
copy thereof attested by the officer having legal custody of the document. If the record is not
kept in the Philippines, such copy must be (a) accompanied by a certificate issued by the proper
diplomatic or consular officer in the Philippine foreign service stationed in the foreign country in
which the record is kept and (b) authenticated by the seal of his office.
The divorce decree
between respondent and Editha Samson appears to be an authentic one issued by an Australian
family court. However, appearance is not sufficient; compliance with the aforementioned rules
on evidence must be demonstrated.

(2) No.

In its strict legal sense, divorce means the legal dissolution of a lawful union for a cause arising
after marriage. But divorces are of different types. The two basic ones are
(1) absolute divorce or a vinculo matrimonii and
(2) limited divorce or a mensa et thoro.

The first kind terminates the marriage, while the second suspends it and leaves the bond in full
force. There is no showing in the case at bar which type of divorce was procured by respondent.
The legal capacity to contract marriage is determined by the national law of the party concerned.
The certificate mentioned in Article 21 of the Family Code would have been sufficient to
establish the legal capacity of respondent, had he duly presented it in court. A duly authenticated
and admitted certificate is prima facie evidence of legal capacity to marry on the part of the alien
applicant for a marriage license. 
As it is, however, there is absolutely no evidence that proves
respondent's legal capacity to marry petitioner.
Based on the above records, we cannot conclude that respondent, who was then a naturalized
Australian citizen, was legally capacitated to marry petitioner on January 12, 1994. We agree
with petitioner's contention that the court a quo erred in finding that the divorce decree ipso facto
clothed respondent with the legal capacity to remarry without requiring him to adduce sufficient
evidence to show the Australian personal law governing his status; or at the very least, to prove
his legal capacity to contract the second marriage.
The most judicious course is to remand this case to the trial court to receive evidence, if any,
which show petitioner's legal capacity to marry petitioner. Failing in that, then the court a
quo may declare a nullity of the parties' marriage on the ground of bigamy, there being already in
evidence two existing marriage certificates, which were both obtained in the Philippines, one in
Malabon, Metro Manila dated March 1, 1987 and the other, in Cabanatuan City dated January
12, 1994.
 On September 7, 1979, petitioner Imelda Pilapil, a Filipino citizen, and private respondent Erich
Geiling, a German national, were married in the Federal Republic of Germany. The marriage started
auspiciously enough, and the couple lived together for some time in Malate, Manila. Thereafter, marital
discord set in, followed by a separation de facto between them. After about three and a half years of
marriage, private respondent initiating a divorce proceeding against petitioner in Germany. He claimed
that there was failure of their marriage and that they had been living apart since April 1982.

On January 15, 1986, Schoneberg Local Court promulgated a decree of divorce on the ground of
failure of marriage of the spouses. The custody of the child was granted to petitioner. Petitioner, on the
other hand, filed an action for legal separation, support and separation of property before the Regional
Trial Court of Manila on January 23, 1983.

More than five months after the issuance of the divorce decree, private respondent filed two
complaints for adultery before the City Fiscal of Manila alleging that, while still married to said respondent,
petitioner "had an affair with a certain William Chia as early as 1982 and with yet another man named
James Chua sometime in 1983". On October 27, 1987, petitioner filed this special civil action for certiorari
and prohibition, with a prayer for a temporary restraining order, seeking the annulment of the order of the
lower court denying her motion to quash.

Issue: Whether or not the criminal cases filed by the German ex-spouse may prosper.

Held: Under Article 344 of the Revised Penal Code, the crime of adultery cannot be prosecuted except
upon a sworn written complaint filed by the offended spouse. Corollary to such exclusive grant of power
to the offended spouse to institute the action, it necessarily follows that such initiator must have the
status, capacity or legal representation to do so at the time of the filing of the criminal action. Hence,
Article 344 of the Revised Penal Code, thus, presupposes that the marital relationship is still subsisting at
the time of the institution of the criminal action for adultery.

In the present case, the fact that private respondent obtained a valid divorce in his country, the
Federal Republic of Germany, is admitted. Said divorce and its legal effects may be recognized in the
Philippines insofar as private respondent is concerned in view of the nationality principle in our civil law on
the matter of status of persons. Private respondent, being no longer the husband of petitioner, had no
legal standing to commence the adultery case under the imposture that he was the offended spouse at
the time he filed suit.