Persons and Family Relations
Van Dorn v Romillo 139 SCRA 139
Facts:
Alice Reyes, a Filipina, married Richard Upton, an American citizen in Hong Kong in 1972. They established residence in the Philippines and had two children. In 1982, Reyes filed a divorce by virtue of incompatibility and they were divorced in Nevada. Reyes remarried Theodore Van Dorn in Nevada. Upton filed at RTC a suit against the petitioner, asking Van Dorn to be ordered to render an account of their business, in Ermita Manila and be declared with the right to manage the conjugal property.
Issue:
Whether or not the foreign divorce between the petitioner and private respondent in Nevada is binding in the Philippines where the petitioner is a citizen?
Held:
Yes. The pivotal fact in this case is the Nevada divorce of the parties since the Nevada court has jurisdiction over the parties. The decree is binding on Upton as an American citizen; hence he cannot sue the petitioner as her husband. While it is true owing to the nationality principle under Art 15 of NCC, only Philippine nationals are covered by the policy against absolute divorce, aliens may obtain divorces abroad, which may be recognized in the Philippines, provided they are valid to their law of the nation.
Hence, he is no longer the husband of the petitioner pursuant to his national law, thus he doesn’t have any right to exercise control over conjugal assets. He was bound by the Decision of his own country’s Court, which validly exercised jurisdiction over him, and whose decision he did not repudiate, he is estopped by his own representation before said Court from asserting his right over the alleged conjugal property.