FACTS:
The petitioner, Stephen I. Juego-Sakai, and Toshiharu Sakai got married in Japan and later obtained a divorce decree by agreement in the same country. Petitioner filed a petition before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) seeking the judicial recognition of the foreign divorce judgment. The RTC granted the petition, a decision which was later affirmed by the Court of Appeals (CA). However, the CA amended its decision and set aside its previous ruling. The CA held that the divorce cannot be recognized in the Philippines because both parties obtained the divorce by agreement and not solely by Sakai. Furthermore, the CA declared that the petitioner's failure to present authenticated copies of the Civil Code of Japan was fatal to her cause. In response, the petitioner filed a petition arguing that her obtained divorce should be recognized pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code. She explained that she was unable to obtain authenticated copies of the Civil Code of Japan due to her pregnancy and inability to travel to Japan.
ISSUES:
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Whether or not the second requisite for the application of the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code is present when the petitioner gave consent to the divorce obtained by her Japanese husband.
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Whether or not there is substantial compliance with the requirement on the submission of authenticated copies of the Civil Code of Japan relative to divorce as required by the rules.
RULING:
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The Court of Appeals erred in holding that the second requisite for the application of the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code is not present because the petitioner gave consent to the divorce obtained by her Japanese husband. The Court held that the consent of the Filipino spouse does not prevent the application of Article 26 for the provision does not state that where the consent of the Filipino spouse was obtained in the divorce, the same no longer finds application.
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The Court of Appeals erred in holding that there is no substantial compliance with the requirement on the submission of authenticated copies of the Civil Code of Japan relative to divorce. The Court held that the failure to present authenticated copies of the Civil Code of Japan was not fatal to the petitioner's cause, considering that she was unable to go to Japan due to pregnancy and the Japanese Embassy does not issue certified true copies of Japanese Law.
PRINCIPLES:
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The second requisite for the application of the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code is not negated by the fact that the Filipino spouse gave consent to the divorce obtained by the foreign spouse.
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Failure to present authenticated copies of foreign laws may not be fatal to a case if there is a valid reason for the non-compliance and an alternative mode of presenting the necessary evidence was done.