Pursuant to Section 48, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court and the Supreme Court ruling in the case of RP vs. Orbecido III (G.R. 154380, dated October 5, 2005), judgments/orders rendered by foreign courts must be passed upon judicially by Philippine court to prove its validity. These are not self-executory in the Philippines, hence, the following guidelines are hereby adopted in the annotation of civil registry documents involving foreign judgments/orders.
These guidelines cover the following foreign judgments/orders:
Divorce by both alien and natural Filipino
Dissolution of Marriage
Adoption, except inter-country adoption that passed through the Inter-country Adoption Board (ICAB)
Other judgment/orders involving civil status of persons
These judgments/orders must be judicially confirmed/enforced by filing a civil action at the Regional Trial Courts in the Philippines (RTC-Phil.) The RTC-Phil decisions shall be registered in the Local Civil Registry Office of the city/municipality where the court is functioning.
After registration of the RTC-Phil decision it shall be submitted to the LCRO of the city/municipality where the affected civil registry documents (birth, marriages, etc.) are registered. The decisions of the RTC-Phil shall become the basis for annotation of the civil registry documents (CRDs).
Steps in annotating CRDs at the LCRO:
Determine the authenticity of the decision of RTC-Phil
Require the submission of the following documents:
Original/Certified copy of foreign judgment/order duly registered at the City Civil Registry Office of Manila (where all foreign court orders/legal instruments are to be registered)
Original/Certified copy of Certificate of Finality of the decision of RTC-Phil
Original/Certified copy of Certificate of Finality of the decision of RTC-Phil
Annotate the affected civil registry documents in the remarks portion as follows:
For Divorce/Dissolution of Marriage, and other similar court decrees.
“Pursuant to the decision of (name of judge) of (name and branch of court) on
(date issued) the (vital events) is hereby declared ___________l”
For Adoption – Apply the Rules as provided under A.O. 1 series of 1993
(Rules/Regulations Implementing Civil Registry Law)
After annotation at the LCRO, the annotated documents together with its requirements must be submitted to the OCRG.
To annotate the CRDs at the OCRG, the same steps and supporting documents required at the LCRO shall be done and submitted to the OCRG.