Garcia v. Recio GR No. 138322, 2 Oct 2001 Panganiban, J.

Facts: Rederick Recio, a Filipino, was married to Editha Samson, an Australian, in 1987. They lived together in Australia. In 1989, a decree of divorce was issued by an Australian family court. In 1992, Recio became an Australian citizen. He married Grace Garcia, a Filipina, at Cabanatuan. In their marriage license application, Recio declared he was single & Filipino. In 1998, Garcia filed a petition to declare nullity of marriage on the ground of bigamy because Recio allegedly had a prior subsisting marriage at the time he married her. Respondent contended that his first marriage had been validly dissolved by an Australian divorce decree. Pending the suit for declaration of nullity , Recio was able to secure a divorce decree from Australia. The trial court ruled in favor of respondent & declared the marriage dissolved on the ground that the divorce issued in Australia was valid & recognized in the Philippines, thus there was no more marital union to nullify or annul. Issue: Whether Recio was proven to be legally capacitated to marry Garcia Held: No. The divorce decree does not automatically mean that Recio was legally capacitated to marry. He must first adduce sufficient evidence to show the Australian personal law governing his status & prove his legal capacity to contract the 2nd marriage. There was no showing in the case whether the divorce procured by Recio was absolute or limited. However, the Australian divorce decree contains a restriction that the party who marries again before the decree becomes absolute commits bigamy, bolstering the contention that the divorce may have been restricted. It may also turn out that under Australian law, he was really capacitated to remarry as a direct result of the divorce decree. Therefore, the case must be remanded to the lower court.