Divorce obtained abroad by a Filipino not recognized here

Note: Please read also my post “The right of a divorced Filipino to remarry under Article 26 of the Family Code” where I discussed the 2005 Supreme Court ruling in Republic of the Philippines v. Cipriano Orbecido III. In this case, the Court ruled that [1] Paragraph 2 of Article 26 of the Family Code should be interpreted to allow a Filipino citizen, who has been divorced by a spouse who had acquired foreign citizenship and remarried, also to remarry; and [2] The reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of the celebration of the marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry.
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A divorce obtained by a Filipino in another country, like the USA for example, is not recognized here in the Philippines. In several decisions, our Supreme Court has ruled that a Filipino who obtains a divorce abroad and gets married here again, is liable for bigamy. But what if the divorce is obtained by an alien spouse against a Filipino?

The 2nd paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code states: “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. (As amended by Executive Order 227”)

We must make a distinction here. In the case of a Filipino married to an alien spouse, if he or she initiates or files the divorce action, the subsequent divorce will not be recognized here in the Philippines. If he or she gets married here again, he or she will be liable for bigamy.

But if it is the alien spouse who initiates or files the divorce action, Article 26 of the Family Code will apply. The divorce is recognized here in the Philippines, and if the said divorce allows the former alien spouse to remarry, the Filipino will also have the right to remarry under Philippine law.

Divorce statistics among Christians

The Barna Research Group which does research for churches and ministries in the USA, reported that in 1998, there were more divorces among Christians than among unbelievers. Barna reported that the divorce rate was 23 percent for non-Christians, 27 percent for born-again Christians, and 30 percent for fundamentalists.

The most saddening finding by Barna is that eighty seven percent said they obtained their divorce after they became Christians.

We don’t have the statistics for divorce (or in the Philippine legal setting, “annulment” or “declaration of nullity”) among Filipino Christians. The high cost of having a marriage annulled, the pressures of society for a woman to maintain the family unity, and the very strong stand of pastors and ministers against divorce, are the possible factors.

While divorce (or in the Philippine legal setting, “annulment” or “declaration of nullity”) has not reached a significant level among Filipino Christian couples, what about “emotional divorce”? I can’t remember right now who coined this term (Gene Getz, maybe) but he or she said that eighty five percent of Christian couples are living separate lives - emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. As someone has put it (the author's name escapes me right now), “More marriages die, not from violence, but from silence.” Or as Pastor Jericho Samson of Caloocan Bible Baptist Church once said in a sermon, "Nag-uusap lang kayong mag-asawa kung nag-aaway kayo."

These couples may be going to church regularly, or be involved in ministries, but the spark in their marriage has completely gone out. I am reminded right now of something Dr. Larry Crabb Jr. said in his book, The Marriage Builder. He mentioned that one of his counselees was a missionary who was utterly disappointed with his marriage.