In the past, a divorce granted in a foreign country in favor of a couple who was previously-married in the Philippines was not recognized by the Philippine Courts. When applied to a marriage between a foreigner and a Filipino, a foreigner spouse who had successfully obtained a divorce outside of the Philippines can freely remarry while the Filipino spouse is still considered married to her thus cannot remarry. It was clearly a very unfair rule. However, the law may be harsh but it is the law (dura lex sed lex).

This law has now been amended under Article 26 of the New Family Code of the Philippines:

Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and (6), 3637 and 38. (17a)

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)

The reason behind this amendment is to strike a balance between the rights of the foreign spouse with that of the Filipino spouse. Under this provision, the Filipino spouse, whose foreign spouse obtained the divorce decree from a foreign court, is now allowed to remarry. All she has to do is to file a petition before the court for the Recognition of the Decree of Divorce validly obtained abroad and pray that the court declare his or her capacity to remarry under Philippine Law.

According to earlier jurisprudence, it was required that one of the spouse must be a foreigner at the time of marriage, that said foreign spouse have thereafter validly obtained a decree of divorce from a court outside the Philippines and such decree grants him/her the right to remarry.

Lately however, the court has relaxed the implementation of said rule and granted the same privilege even between Filipino citizens who later became naturalized citizens of other countries.

Between annulment, legal separation, declaration of presumptive death and a petition for the recognition of foreign divorce, the latest is the easiest to prove and is almost always granted by the court. It is also the least painless and least contested process because it is believed that at this stage the couple had already moved on with their own lives. This process is a mere formalization of the marital divide. Cost wise, it is likewise the least expensive since no psychological examination is required.