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A woman removes her wedding ring.
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MANILA, Philippines — The “current policy” on foreign divorce mirrors a colonial mentality as it is only applicable to Filipinos who married foreigners, a former law school dean said.
Mel Sta. Maria, former dean of the FEU College of Law, said this on Tuesday, April 28, during oral arguments on the recognition of foreign divorce between two Filipinos.
According to Sta. Maria, the policy, which disallows recognition, is disadvantageous to Filipinos.
“I'm sorry to say, borders on racism, is sinocentric, and it mirrors a colonial mentality where the natives have less rights, and if they want to have more rights, they have to associate themselves with a foreigner,” Sta Maria, standing as amicus curiae during the oral arguments, said.
“It is so deleterious to our culture and our tradition, your honor. This is discriminatory,” he added.
Sta. Maria referred to Article 26 (2) of the Family Code, which recognizes divorce obtained abroad by a Filipino and a foreign spouse:
“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.”
Sta. Maria added that the petition for recognition may be granted under Rule 39, Section 48 of the Rules of Court, which covers the effect of foreign judgments or final orders.
“So that the right comparator is Filipinos with privilege and Filipinos with no privilege. Why do you distinguish? Why is it, Your Honor, that the only magic for recognizing a marriage is the presence of a foreigner? That is unpatriotic, your honor,” Sta Maria said.
The case involves a former Filipino national who obtained U.S. citizenship before reacquiring Filipino citizenship and initiating divorce proceedings overseas.
Justice Raul Villanueva sought clarification on whether both parties in such cases could be considered victims of inequity or discrimination.
In response, Sta. Maria confirmed this, explaining that under the current policy, petitions filed by two Filipinos for the recognition of a foreign divorce judgment face automatic rejection without substantive review.
“If two Filipinos file a case in the Philippines for a petition for recognition of [a] foreign judgment, siguradong talo your honor, automatic rejection hindi man lang titignan,” Sta Maria said.
(If two Filipinos file a petition in the Philippines for the recognition of a foreign judgment, they are certain to lose, Your Honor; it results in an automatic rejection without the court even looking into the merits of the case.)
“Well, if this petition is denied, I'm sorry for them. They were just the victim of discrimination,” he added.
