Corpuz v. Sto.

Tomas (2010)
Petitioners: Gerbert Corpuz
Respondents: Daisylyn Sto. Tomas
Topic: Divorce
SUMMARY: The alien spouse, in this case petitioner, cannot institute a proceeding in Philippine
courts to have a foreign divorce decree be recognized. Only the Filipino spouse may do so.
FACTS:
Petitioner Gerbert Corpuz was a Filipino who acquired Canadian citizenship through
naturalization on 2000. On January 2005, he married respondent Daisylyn Sto. Tomas, a
Filipina. Due to work, he returned to Canada after the wedding. When he returned three months
later, he discovered that Sto. Tomas had an affair with another man. He returned to Canada and
filed a petition for divorce, which was granted by the Superior Court of Justice, Canada.
Two years after, Gerbert wanted to marry his new Filipina fiance, so he went to the Pasig Civil
Registry Office to register the Canadian divorce decree on his and Sto. Tomas marriage
certificate. An official of NSO told him that his prior marriage was still subsisting, and for the
divorce to be acknowledged, it had to be recognized by a competent Philippine court.
Gerbert filed a petition for judicial recognition of foreign divorce with the RTC. Sto. Tomas
offered no opposition. The RTC denied the petition, saying that Gerbert was not the proper party
to institute it since he is a naturalized Canadian citizen. It ruled that only the Filipino spouse
could avail the remedy, under Art 26 of the Family Code.
ISSUE/S:

WON the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code extends to aliens the right
to petition a court of this jurisdiction for the recognition of a foreign divorce decree
o NO. The alien spouse can claim no right under the second paragraph of Article
26 of the Family Code as the substantive right it establishes is in favor of the
Filipino spouse.
o Essentially, the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code provided the
Filipino spouse a substantive right to have his or her marriage to the alien spouse
considered as dissolved, capacitating him or her to remarry. Without the second
paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code, the judicial recognition of the foreign
decree of divorce, whether in a proceeding instituted precisely for that purpose or
as a related issue in another proceeding, would be of no significance to the
Filipino spouse since our laws do not recognize divorce as a mode of severing
the marital bond.
o If the court finds that the decree capacitated the alien spouse to remarry, the
courts can declare that the Filipino spouse is likewise capacitated to contract
another marriage. No court in this jurisdiction, however, can make a similar

declaration for the alien spouse whose status and legal capacity are generally
governed by his national law
NOTES:

None.