Case Digest (G.R. No. 154380)
Facts:
Republic of the Philippines petitioned the Court to review the Regional Trial Court of Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, Branch 23 decision that declared Cipriano Orbecido III capacitated to remarry after his wife, originally a Filipino, was subsequently naturalized in the United States and obtained a foreign divorce and remarriage. The trial court granted respondent's petition for authority to remarry under Article 26 of the Family Code; the Office of the Solicitor General sought reconsideration and filed this petition for review.
The Supreme Court treated the prayer as a declaratory relief action and considered whether Paragraph 2 of Article 26 applied where a spouse acquired foreign citizenship after marriage and procured a foreign divorce, and whether respondent proved the facts justifying capacity to remarry.
Issues:
- Does Paragraph 2 of Article 26, Family Code apply when a spouse was Filipino at marriage but later became a naturalized foreign citizen who obtained a foreign divorce?
- May the trial court properly declare respondent capacitated to remarry on the record as it stood without competent proof of naturalization and of a foreign divorce permitting remarriage?
Ruling:
The Court granted the petition, set aside the trial court's decision and resolution, and held that Paragraph 2 of Article 26 should be interpreted to include cases where a spouse is naturalized abroad and thereafter validly divorced and remarried. The Court nevertheless denied respondent's declaratory relief on the merits because he failed to submit competent evidence proving his wife's naturalization, the foreign divorce decree, and the foreign law authorizing remarriage.
Ratio:
The Court construed Paragraph 2 of Article 26 according to legislative intent to avoid the absurd result of a foreign spouse being free to remarry abroad while the Filipino spouse remained bound at home; the proper reckoning is the spouses' citizenship at the time a valid foreign divorce capacitated the former spouse to remarry. The Court relied on the rule that statutes may be extended to cases within their spirit, cited Van Dorn v. Romillo, Jr. and the obiter in Quita, and reiterated that allegations of foreign facts and foreign law must be pleaded and proved.
Doctrine:
- Paragraph 2 of Article 26, Family Code applies when a spouse acquires foreign citizenship and thereafter obtains a foreign divorce capacitating that spouse to remarry; the Filipino spouse may likewise remarry.
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