Title

Republic of the Philippines vs. Orbecido III

Case
G.R. No. 154380
Ponente
QUISUMBING, J
Decision Date
Oct 4, 2005
A Filipino citizen seeks permission to remarry after his spouse, who obtained American
citizenship, divorces him and remarries, leading the Supreme Court to interpret the
Family Code and rule in favor of the Filipino citizen's capacity to remarry under
Philippine law.
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Facts:
 Cipriano Orbecido III, a Filipino citizen, married Lady Myros M. Villanueva in 1981 and
they had two children together.
 In 1986, Lady Myros left for the United States with their son and later obtained
American citizenship.
 In 2000, Cipriano learned that Lady Myros had obtained a divorce decree and remarried
an American citizen.
 Cipriano filed a petition for authority to remarry, invoking Article 26 of the Family Code.

Issue:
 Is a Filipino citizen, whose spouse has obtained a valid divorce decree and remarried as
a naturalized foreign citizen, also capacitated to remarry under Philippine law?

Ruling:
 The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cipriano Orbecido III, stating that he is capacitated
to remarry under Philippine law.

Ratio:
 The court interpreted Paragraph 2 of Article 26 of the Family Code to include cases
where the parties were Filipino citizens at the time of marriage but one later becomes
naturalized as a foreign citizen and obtains a divorce decree.
 The court held that to rule otherwise would be to sanction absurdity and injustice.
 The court rejected the argument that the proper remedy for the Filipino spouse is to file
for annulment or legal separation, as these would not sever the marriage tie.

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 The court based its decision on the legislative intent behind Article 26, which is to avoid
the situation where a Filipino spouse remains married to an alien spouse who is no
longer married to the Filipino spouse after obtaining a divorce.
 The court considered the historical background of the provision and previous
jurisprudence.
 The court held that the two elements for the application of Paragraph 2 of Article 26 are:
1) a valid marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner, and 2) a valid divorce
obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry.
 The court emphasized that the reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the
time of marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad.
 Cipriano must provide competent evidence of the divorce decree and his wife's
naturalization, as well as proof that the divorce decree allows his former wife to remarry.