At its October 7, 2026 session, the #SupremeCourtPH En Banc approved amendments to the Rules of Court (A.M. No. 25-03-14-SC) that make it easier for Filipino spouses to prove a foreign divorce when asking Philippine courts to recognize it.
Under the amendments, which take effect 15 days after they are posted on the Supreme Court website, Filipino spouses seeking recognition of a foreign divorce under Article 26(2) of the Family Code will no longer have to prove the applicable foreign law when filing. They will only need to prove that the foreign divorce took place.
The amendments create Section 48-A of Rule 39, which presumes that a foreign divorce between a Filipino and a foreign spouse allows the foreign spouse to remarry under foreign law, unless the divorce decree itself says it is only a limited divorce.
The party opposing the petition now carries the burden of proving that the divorce is not absolute.
The new rule also presumes that an English translation of a foreign divorce document is accurate if the translator certifies its accuracy under oath.
These presumptions are rebuttable and can be challenged with contrary evidence under Section 3 of Rule 131.
The amendments do not, however, change the existing legal framework. A petition for judicial recognition of a foreign divorce is still required, and the substantive requirements of Article 26(2) of the Family Code stay the same.
Recognition of a foreign divorce can still be opposed on grounds such as lack of jurisdiction, lack of notice, fraud, or a clear mistake of law or fact.
The amendments were approved on the recommendation of Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, in consultation with Associate Justices Amy C. Lazaro-Javier and Jhosep Y. Lopez, and the Sub-Technical Working Group on the Concerns of Overseas Working Filipinos Regarding the Recognition of Foreign Divorce Decrees/Reports (Sub-TWG).
During consultations with the Sub-TWG, the Department of Foreign Affairs pointed out several difficulties. Foreign family laws are often spread across different jurisdictions, making them hard to obtain. Some countries have no designated official who can certify these laws, and foreign ministries generally do not provide official English translations.
With these amendments, the Supreme Court aims to remove unnecessary barriers and make it easier for Filipinos to exercise their rights under the law.
The full press briefer is available at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=174621.
The full text of Supreme Court En Banc Resolution A.M. No. 25-03-14-SC will be uploaded to the Supreme Court website once available.
And yet Filipinos married to other Filipinos still can't legally divorce. So in practice some citizens have more rights than others, which means they aren't equal before the law.
Good news for some of the ladies!
I'm going through this process right now. Proving the foreign law part is a hassle, but nowhere near as hard or expensive as the court petition itself
So it means Filipino spouses don't need to file for recognition of divorce in the PH as long as the divorce abroad is legal. Good news for Filipinos, saves time, money and effort.
You'd be surprised, they'll still ask for more supporting documents. They've made amendments before, but somehow the process seems just as hard.
THANKS, D.J.
Comments 0
Please log into write a comment.