Divorce

I thought joining the rest of the World (minus the Vatican) and allowing divorce would be a priority for any new government here in the 21st century - but seems they prefer the problems associated with so many citizens being 'imprisoned' by the difficulty of ending a marriage. I know it is mainly due to the influence of the Catholic Church but was that also not a problem in many other countries?

So now you can be legally married to a 'divorced' (in another country) Filipino all over the planet but the moment the couple's feet touch Philippine soil, you are illegal. It seems from what you say that also you remain married in the Philippines until your own feet leave that soil. Crazy.

Add to the fact, I think, that a married man can have another partner but for a married woman it is an offence liable to imprisonment. More crazy.

 

It seems the PSA (Philippines Statistics Agency) believe that they, along with a court ruling, are the sole arbiter as to whether for not a foreign dissolution of marriage is valid. They can say that they have no idea if this was some sort of quickie no fault divorce where the rights of the Filipina may not have been respected so they need a judge to go over the facts and agree with it. Well, asking PSA to sign-off probably challenges the very credibility of their existence so they need a PI judicial authority to guide their decision. If any of those other agencies were challenged, those agencies would point to the decision made by the agency whose job it is to be right, the PSA.

I think that here in Dumaguete, having a court hearing to validate the divorce for the PI should not be a problem. It would probably be a short court hearing with perhaps 15k Attorney fees. The Philippines does recognize foreign divorces, they simply do not allow it here. I think you could find a good Attorney to make this happen but they would probably give your ex-Filipina spouse the right to attend. But you would probably succeed IMHO as long as she didn’t get her own lawyer and challenge it, for example if you didn’t settle outside of court before the hearing.

You may need to get an affidavit of the divorce validity from your Embassy, accepted by Apostille (“red-ribboning” by DFA no longer needed).

I chalk it up to putting up with the unavoidable issues of living abroad. This could happen in many other countries, not a unique issue of PI.

I do not think this is even a matter if divorce being disallowed here, it is a matter of THIS divorce respecting the rights of the Filipina.


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The problem is though that a country can't have it both ways.
You can't as a country sign up to a treaty that commits you to respecting foreign marriages/divorces and then still want to check whether your laws have been respected.
It's either or, simple as that.
If the marriage was concluded under foreign law, then either you respect that (and the possibly ensuing divorce), or you don't.
It looks like the Philippines misguidedly wants to have their cake and eat it.

Obviously if the marriage was under Philippine law then it's a different matter.

 

I know of a case where the foreigner divorced his Filipina wife outside of the country.. She rec'd the degree and would have had to attend the hearing in London.. or possibly hired a London lawyer, since she could afford neither after 6 months a decree absolute was issued and the marriage was over. The guy came back here with the divorce papers and went to the NSO or whatever they call it now, they didn't like to do it but respected the English Courts decision and removed the marriage from record.. He then proceeded to marry another Filipina.

 

I don't know about other countries but in the UK, if a couple have been living apart for 5 years, either party can divorce the other unilaterally.

 

I never heard of that one. We do have no-fault states though, like Florida where you and spouse just agree to divorce, fill out some forms and sign them, no attorneys, pay a small fee for a court hearing and postage to send both parties copies of the divorce decree. “Simplified Dissolution of Marriage”. OK if no alimony, child support or real estate.


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That should change in late 2021 when 'The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill 2021' comes into force. The new law would remove the requirement to provide evidence of fault, or separation, and replace it with a statement from either applicant that the marriage had irretrievably broken-down. I think the marriage has to be for a minimum one year.

 

In the Netherlands divorce has been possible since 1796, and since 1971 there's only one valid reason for divorce, the "irretrievably broken down" thing. If both partners agree about getting a divorce, it doesn't matter hoe long you've been married before applying for divorce, if it's a one sided application then it'll be granted if partners have been factually separated for at least one year.

 

I know through contact with Filipino students in the UK that many Filipinas get a divorce from their Filipino husbands (even if the husband is still in the Philippines) after being in the UK for at least one year. Often they marry again in the UK, usually with a foreigner.

I think problems could occur when they return to the Philippines with the new husband - the ex could file a case. The Filipina, at least, would be breaking the law, but I don't know if it requires the ex to file a case or not. I read of one case where a Filipina working in Dubai and a UK citizen had a child together, but unmarried, and on returning to the Philippines he described their house being surrounded by the PNP - he managed to escape (?how) and fled back to the UK.

In another case, the Filipina's passport was in her previous married name (neither marriage registered at the NSO) and when checked at emigration upon leaving the Philippines I think they compared her passport with their NSO data base and questioned her husband. When they saw his passport they said something like "Ok, so you were married in England" and let them both leave. That may have been luck because of which officer was working at that time.

It is a minefield and the only country where a married couple can be imprisoned for being married (if we omit the crazy places where they throw people off buildings for being gay or kill their own daughters for loving the 'wrong' man).