ADONG VS.

CHEONG SENG GEE, 43 PHIL 43

FACTS: Estate of Cheong Boo is claimed by two parties (1) his alleged
legitimate child from a marriage contracted in China in 1895, and (2) his
alleged legitimate spouse from a marriage in Basilan in 1896.
ISSUE: WON a marriage contracted in China and proven mainly by a
matrimonial letter is valid in the Philippines
HELD: NO;
To establish a valid foreign marriage, it is first necessary to prove before the
courts of the Islands the existence of the foreign law as a question of fact,
and it is then necessary to prove the alleged foreign marriage by convincing
evidence.
There is a need for proof that is clear, strong and unequivocal so as to
produce a moral conviction of the existence of such impediment (prior
marriage).
LIM v COLLECTOR 36 PHIL 472
FACTS:
the Insular Collector of Customs denied entry into the Philippine Islands two
children aged 8 and 14 years, respectively, under and by authority of the
Chinese Immigration, Laws, it appearing that the children arrived at the Port
of Manila accompanied by and in the custody of their mother, a Filipino
woman; The children were born in China, out of lawful wedlock; and that
their father was Chinese.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the Insular Collector of Customs may lawfully deny entry into
the Philippines to the 2 children?

RULING
No. SC assumes that in china as well as in the Philippine islands such
children have the right to look to their mother for their maintenance and
education, and that she is entitled to their custody and control in fulfilling the

obligations towards them which are imposed upon her, not only by the
natural impulses of love and affection, but also by the express mandate of
the law.
SC opined that Chinese immigration laws should not be construed so as to
exclude infant children of a Filipino mother, born out of lawful wedlock,
seeking entrance to the Philippine islands for the purpose of taking up their
residence with her in her native land.