RACHO VS TANAKA GR 199515 October 2, 2008

 

RACHO VS TANAKA GR 199515

FACTS:

Racho and Seiichi Tanaka were married on April 20, 2001 in Las Piñas City, Metro Manila. They lived together for nine years in Japan and did not have any children. Racho alleged that on December 16, 2009, Tanaka filed for divorce and the divorce was granted. She secured a Divorce Certificate issued by Consul Kenichiro Takayama of the Japanese Consulate in the Philippines and had it authenticated by the DFA. She was informed that by reason of certain administrative changes, she was required to return to the Philippines to report the documents for registration and to file the appropriate case for judicial recognition of divorce.

She tried to have the Divorce Certificate registered with the Civil Registry of Manila but was refused since there was no court order recognizing it. When she went to the Department of Foreign Affairs to renew her passport, she was likewise told that she needed the proper court order. She was also informed by the National Statistics Office that her divorce could only be annotated in the Certificate of Marriage if there was a court order capacitating her to remarry.

She filed a Petition for Judicial Determination and Declaration of Capacity to Marry before the RTC but the latter held that failed to prove that Tanaka legally obtained a divorce. Racho filed a Motion for Reconsideration which was denied. Racho filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari with the SC but the latter deferred action on her Petition pending her submission of a duly authenticated acceptance certificate of the notification of divorce. On March 16, 2012, petitioner submitted her Compliance, attaching a duly authenticated Certificate of Acceptance of the Report of Divorce that she obtained in Japan.

Petitioner argues that under the Civil Code of Japan, a divorce by agreement becomes effective upon notification, whether oral or written, by both parties and by two or more witnesses. She contends that the Divorce Certificate stating “Acceptance Certification of Notification of Divorce issued by the Mayor of Fukaya City, Saitama Pref., Japan” is sufficient to prove that she and her husband have divorced by agreement and have already effected notification of the divorce. She avers further that under Japanese law, the manner of proving a divorce by agreement is by record of its notification and by the fact of its acceptance, both of which were stated in the Divorce Certificate. She insists that she is now legally capacitated to marry since Article 728 of the Civil Code of Japan states that a matrimonial relationship is terminated by divorce.

ISSUE:

Whether the Certificate of Acceptance of the Report of Divorce is sufficient to prove the fact that a divorce was validly obtained by Tanaka according to his national law.

RULING:

Yes. Under Article 26 of the Family Code, a divorce between a foreigner and a Filipino may be recognized in the Philippines as long as it was validly obtained according to the foreign spouse’s national law. The second paragraph provides that 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.

Mere presentation of the divorce decree before a trial court is insufficient. In Garcia v. Recio, the court established the principle that before a foreign divorce decree is recognized in this jurisdiction, a separate action must be instituted for that purpose. Courts do not take judicial notice of foreign laws and foreign judgments; thus, our laws require that the divorce decree and the national law of the foreign spouse must be pleaded and proved like any other fact before trial courts.

To prove the fact of divorce, petitioner presented the Divorce Certificate issued by Consul Takayama. This Certificate only certified that the divorce decree, or the Acceptance Certification of Notification of Divorce, exists. It is not the divorce decree itself. Upon appeal to this Court, however, petitioner submitted a Certificate of Acceptance of the Report of Divorce, certifying that the divorce has been accepted.

The probative value of the Certificate of Acceptance of the Report of Divorce is a question of fact that would not ordinarily be within this Court’s ambit to resolve. The court records, however, are already sufficient to fully resolve the factual issues.

Additionally, the Office of the Solicitor General neither posed any objection to the admission of the Certificate of Acceptance of the Report of Divorce nor argued that the Petition presented questions of fact. In the interest of judicial economy and efficiency, this Court shall resolve this case on its merits.

The Office of the Solicitor General, however, posits that divorce by agreement is not the divorce contemplated in Article 26 of the Family Code. In this particular instance, it is the Filipina spouse who bears the burden of this narrow interpretation, which may be unconstitutional. Article II, Section 14 of our Constitution provides that State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men. Thus, Article 26 should be interpreted to mean that it is irrelevant for courts to determine if it is the foreign spouse that procures the divorce abroad. Once a divorce decree is issued, the divorce becomes “validly obtained” and capacitates the foreign spouse to marry. The same status should be given to the Filipino spouse.

The national law of Japan does not prohibit the Filipino spouse from initiating or participating in the divorce proceedings. It would be inherently unjust for a Filipino woman to be prohibited by her own national laws from something that a foreign law may allow. The question in this case, therefore, is not who among the spouses initiated the proceedings but rather if the divorce obtained by petitioner and respondent was valid.

Here, the national law of the foreign spouse states that the matrimonial relationship is terminated by divorce. The Certificate of Acceptance of the Report of Divorce does not state any qualifications that would restrict the remarriage of any of the parties. There can be no other interpretation than that the divorce procured by petitioner and respondent is absolute and completely terminates their marital tie. Even under our laws, the effect of the absolute dissolution of the marital tie is to grant both parties the legal capacity to remarry.