A bill endorsed for plenary passage at the House of Representatives seeks to simplify the process of allowing a Filipino spouse to remarry after the foreign spouse has obtained divorce abroad.

The House Committee on Revision of Laws, chaired by Representative Marlyn L. Primicias-Agabas, has approved House Bill 5907, entitled “An Act recognizing the capacity of the Filipino spouse to remarry when the alien spouse has obtained a foreign Judicial Decree of Absolute Divorce, amending for the purpose Executive Order No. 209, otherwise known as The Family Code of the Philippines.”

“Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a judicial decree of absolute divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse, the Filipino spouse shall thereupon acquire the capacity to remarry under Philippine Laws,” according to the proposed measure.

The measure says a foreign judgment on divorce obtained by an alien spouse “duly authenticated by the Philippine consul where the decree was obtained may be presented as one of the documentary requirements for the issuance of a marriage license without need for a judicial decree,” the authors of the bill said.

HB 5907 is contained in Committee Report 795, in substitution of House Bills 2251 authored by Representatives Rufus B. Rodriguez and Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr., and HB 2430 filed by Representative Magtanggol T. Gunigundo I.