Filipino divorced from foreign spouse can now remarry under PH law

The journey to legalizing divorce in the Philippines is moving at a snail’s pace so even small victories are considered momentous.

In a landmark decision by the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) yesterday, it determined that Filipinos who initiated and underwent divorce abroad from a foreign spouse can remarry under Philippine law.

The High Court ruled that the divorce, granted by the Japanese court between Filipino Marelyn Tanedo Manalo and her Japanese husband Minoru Yoshino, is valid in the Philippines even though it was Manalo who filed the divorce in 2011.

To non-Filipinos, this may sound like an obvious decision that should have been legal years ago but up until now, Filipinos could only remarry in the Philippines if the divorce was initiated by their foreign spouse.

This means that the foreign spouse can move on with his/her life and potentially get remarried while Filipinos have to stay — legally at least — married to that person.

If a divorced Filipino wanted to get married in the Philippines, his/her only choice was to undergo the long and expensive annulment process.

This is the latest divorce-related development in the Philippines, where more and more people are pushing for it to be legalized.

Apart from the Vatican, the predominantly Catholic Philippines is the only country where divorce is illegal, even though a 2017 study found that a majority of Filipinos are in favor of legalizing it. This includes 54 percent of the Catholics surveyed.

Developments in congress in the past months reflect this changing mindset.

In March, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading the “Absolute Divorce Act of 2018.” 134 representatives voted in favor of the bill while only 57 voted against it.

But getting it enacted won’t be easy.  The Catholic Church, which remains influential, is still against it.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, himself said that he is against divorce for the sake of the children involved.

“He said the children will suffer, the spouse will lose his or her right to file a case after the divorce,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in Filipino last month.

Politics is also getting in the way of the bill’s progress.

On Thursday, Duterte said in a speech that he will not back the divorce bill because his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is “not happy” with it.

The bill was co-authored by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who has not been in good terms with Duterte’s daughter. Beef between the two was made public in February when Duterte-Carpio cursed at Alvarez, a staunch Duterte supporter, on social media because he allegedly called her a part of the opposition for forming a separate regional political party.