Topic Foreign Divorces
Case No. G.R. No. 196049 | June 26, 2013.
Case Name Fujiki v. Marinay
Full Case MINORU FUJIKI, petitioner,
Name Vs
MARIA PAZ GALELA MARINAY, SHINICHI
MAEKARA, LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF
QUEZON CITY, and THE ADMINISTRATOR
AND CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL OF THE
NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE, respondents.
Ponente CARPIO, J.
Doctrines The Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void
Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages
(A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC) does not apply in a petition to
recognize a foreign judgment relating to the status of a marriage
where one of the parties is a citizen of a foreign country.
The rule in A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC that only the
husband or wife can file a declaration of nullity or
annulment of marriage does not apply if the reason behind
the petition is bigamy. (Juliano-Llave v. Republic)
Nature Petition for certiorari assailing RTC decision
dismissing Fujiki’s petition for Judicial Recognition
of Foreign Judgment.
RELEVANT FACTS
 In January 2004, Minoru Fujiki, a Japanese citizen, married Maria Paz
Marinay, a Filipino, here in the Philippines.
 In May 2008, Marinay, while her marriage with Fujiki was still
subsisting, married another Japanese citizen (Shinichi Maekara), here
in the Philippines. Marinay and Maekara later went to Japan. They
separated on grounds of alleged physical abuse by Marinay.
 In 2010, Fujiki and Marinay reconciled. Fujiki helped Marinay obtain a
Japanese judgment declaring Marinay’s marriage with Maekara void on
the ground of bigamy. Said decree was granted in the same year. Fujiki
and Marinay later went back home to the Philippines together.
 In 2011, Fujiki went to the RTC of Quezon City and filed a petition
entitled “Judicial Recognition of Foreign Judgment (or Decree of
Absolute Nullity of Marriage)”. He filed the petition under Rule 108
of the Rules of Court (Cancellation or Correction of Entries in the
Civil Registry). Basically, Fujiki wanted the following to be done:
(1) the Japanese Family Court judgment be recognized;
(2) that the bigamous marriage between Marinay and Maekara be
declared void ab initio under Articles 35(4) and 41 of the Family
Code of the Philippines; and
(3) for the RTC to direct the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City to
annotate the Japanese Family Court judgment on the Certificate of
Marriage between Marinay and Maekara and to endorse such
annotation to the Office of the Administrator and Civil Registrar
General in the National Statistics Office (NSO).
ISSUES – RULING – DOCTRINE
1. Was the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void
Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages (A.M. No. 02-11-
10-SC) applicable? NO.
 Applying A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC will be tantamount to trying
the case anew. There is no need for this since the case on the
nullity of the subsequent marriage has already been tried under
a foreign court. This will defeat the purpose of recognizing
foreign judgements.
 For Philippine courts to recognize a foreign judgment relating
to the status of a marriage where one of the parties is a citizen
of a foreign country, the petitioner only needs to prove the
foreign judgment as a fact under the Rules of Court. Petitioner
may prove the Japanese Family Court judgment through
(1) an official publication or
(2) a certification or copy attested by the officer who has
custody of the judgment.
 Before a foreign judgement can be extended to Filipino
citizens, the following conditions must exist (to be determined
by the Court):
(1) the foreign judgment is consistent with domestic public policy and
other mandatory laws – in this case, the foreign judgement
 is fully consistent of our public policy, bigamous
marriages being declared void ab initio under Art. 35
FC.
(2) the foreign judgement must be proven as fact – the rules of
evidence shall apply.
(3) the court shall review the foreign judgement, but such review is
limited only to the extrinsic validity of the decision, the Philippine
courts cannot inquire into the merits of a foreign decision – the
judgment or final order may be repelled by evidence of
a want of jurisdiction, want of notice to the party,
collusion, fraud, or clear mistake of law or fact
2. Could a husband or wife of a prior marriage file a petition to
recognize a foreign judgment nullifying the subsequent marriage
between his or her spouse and a foreign citizen on the ground of
bigamy? YES.
 Since the recognition of a foreign judgment only requires proof
of fact of the judgment, it may be made in a special proceeding
for cancellation or correction of entries in the civil registry
under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court.
 Under the Rules of Court, any party in interest affected by the decree
concerning the civil status of persons recorded in the civil register may file
for a petition for cancellation or correction of entries thereon – the prior
spouse is no doubt a real party in interest, having a personal
and material interest in maintaining the integrity of the
marriage he contracted and the property relations arising from
it. Thus, Fujiki may bring the action for the correction of entry
in the civil register recognizing the judgement of the Japanese
Family Court.
 [a] petition for declaration of absolute nullity of void marriage may be filed
solely by the husband or the wife — it refers to the husband or the
wife of the subsisting marriage. Bigamous marriages are
void from the beginning. Thus, the parties in a bigamous
marriage are neither the husband nor the wife under the law.
3. Could the RTC recognize the foreign judgment in a proceeding for
cancellation or correction of entries in the Civil Registry under
Rule 108 of the Rules of Court? YES.
 GR: A petition for correction or cancellation of an entry in the
civil registry cannot substitute for an action to invalidate a
marriage. A Filipino citizen cannot dissolve his marriage by the
mere expedient of changing his entry of marriage in the civil
registry.
 The rule is not applicable in the case at bar. The present case is a
petition for correction or cancellation of a civil registry entry
based on the recognition of a foreign judgment annulling
a marriage where one of the parties is a citizen of the
foreign country. A recognition of a foreign judgment is not
an action to nullify a marriage. It is an action for Philippine
courts to recognize the effectivity of a foreign judgment, which
presupposes a case which was already tried and decided under
foreign law.
DISPOSITIVE POSITION
WHEREFORE, we GRANT the petition. The Order dated 31 January
2011 and the Resolution dated 2 March 2011 of the Regional Trial Court,
Branch 107, Quezon City, in Civil Case No. Q-11-68582 are REVERSED
and SET ASIDE. The Regional Trial Court is ORDERED to
REINSTATE the petition for further proceedings in accordance with this
Decision.
SO ORDERED.