aN

/ receNeD

Seventeenth Congress
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 6957

Introduced by Representative Maria Lourdes O. Acosta-Alba

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article 26 of Executive Order No. 209, as amended, also known as the
“Family Code of the Philippines,” provides that:

Art. 26. xxx

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.

There is no divorce in the Philippines. But when a divorce is validly
obtained abroad by a foreign spouse terminating his or her marriage to the Filipino
spouse, the Filipino spouse shall have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law.
However, this foreign judgment must be passed upon judicially by a Philippine
court to prove its validity. The decision of the court then becomes the basis for the
annotation of the divorce in the civil registry documents.

This bill aims to do away with this long and tedious judicial process by
expanding further the authority of the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul
general to administratively update the civil status of a person appearing in the Civil
Register without need of a judicial order.

As the foreign spouse is already freed from his or her marital obligation, the
same right must also be accorded to the Filipino spouse without the costs and
burden of a tedious judicial process.

Hence, the passage of this bill is urgently sought.

ee a 3. “eaten


aneune

x

10

1

12

23

14

15

16

17

Seventeenth Congress
Second Regular Session

: 6357
House Bill No.

Introduced by Representative Maria O. Lourdes Acosta-Alba

AN ACT
AUTHORIZING THE CITY OR MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR, OR
THE CONSUL GENERAL, TO UPDATE IN THE CIVIL REGISTER
THE CIVIL STATUS OF A FILIPINO SPOUSE WHO WAS VALIDLY
DIVORCED BY A FOREIGN SPOUSE, WITHOUT THE NEED OF A
JUDICIAL ORDER

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines
in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Foreign
Divorce Recognition Act.”

SEC. 2. Authority to Update Civil Status in the Civil Register. —
Notwithstanding the prohibition in Article 412 of Republic Act No. 386, as
amended, otherwise known as the “Civil Code of the Philippines,” the city or
municipal civil registrar, or the consul general, is hereby authorized to update in
accordance with the provisions of this Act, an entry in the civil register
involving the civil status of a Filipino spouse whose marriage with a foreign

spouse was annulled by way of foreign judgment, decree or record.


1

10

1

12

13

4

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

SEC. 3. Who May File the Petition and Where. — The Filipino spouse of
a foreign national whose marriage was dissolved through a divorce validly
obtained abroad by the foreign spouse capacitating the latter to remarry may, in
person, file a petition to update civil status with the local civil registry office of
the city or municipality where the record being sought to be changed is kept.
Filipinos residing abroad may file the petition before the consul general who has
jurisdiction over their person.

SEC. 4. Form and Contents of the Petition. — No petition shall be
accepted and granted by the city or municipal civil registrar, or the consul
general, unless it complies with the following requirements:

a) The petition is in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to
before any person authorized by law to administer oaths, and setting forth facts
necessary to establish its merits;

b) It includes as annexes an official copy of the foreign divorce law
and an official copy of the foreign decree or record of divorce, attested by the
officer having its legal custody, or by the officer’s deputy, and accompanied
with a certificate that such officer has the custody, which certificate may be
made by a secretary of the embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice
consul, or consular agent or by any officer in the foreign service of the
Philippines stationed in the foreign country in which the record is kept, and
authenticated by the seal of such office. The attestation must state, in substance,

that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or a specific part thereof, as the

2


10

nu

12

13

14

15

16

7

18

19

20

21

22

case may be. The attestation must be under the official seal of the attesting
officer, if there be any, or if the officer be the clerk of a court having a seal,
under the seal of such court.

The petition shall be filed in three (3) copies to be distributed as follows:
first copy to the concerned city or municipal civil registrar, or the consul
general; second copy to the Office of the Civil Registrar General; and a third
copy for the petitioner.

SEC. 5. Payment of Fees. — The city or municipal civil registrar or the
consul general shall collect reasonable fees as a condition for accepting the
petition. An indigent petitioner, upon certification issued by the Department of
Social Welfare and Development, is exempted from the payment of the said fee.

SEC. 6. Penalty. — Any person who states any falsehood or falsifies any
document to misrepresent compliance with the provisions of this Act shall, upon
conviction, be punished by imprisonment of not less than six (6) years but not
more than twelve (12) years, or a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos
(P10,000.00) but not more than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), or
both, at the discretion of the court.

In addition, if the offender is a government official or employee, he shall
suffer the penalties provided under civil service laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The Civil Registrar
General shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Justice, the Secretary of

Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Supreme Court Administrator, the University

3


10

uw

of the Philippines Law Center and the Philippine Association of Civil
Registrars, issue the necessary rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of this Act not later than three (3) months from the approval of
this Act.

SEC. 8. Repealing Clause. — Article 412 of Republic Act No. 386, as
amended, also known as the “Civil Code of the Philippines,” and all other laws,
decrees, orders, rules and regulations, other issuances, or parts thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

SEC. 9. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,