Q. Good day to you. Just call me M. Sometime is September 2004, I got married to a Canadian. He is based in Hamilton, Ontario. He came to our place in Cebu and we got married there. Our marriage was a fruitful years of courtship through the internet and email. The arrangement I had with my husband was that upon his return to Ontario, he will immediately sponsor me so we could live together and raise our family in Canada.
However, up to now, I am still in the Philippines, desperately waiting for his promise. The last time I’ve heard from my husband was sometime in June 2003. Despite countless efforts to communicate with him, he seems to be out of touch. His mobile and home numbers are no longer working. I have tried to search for him at www.canada411 but I did not get any information. I sent him letters but didn’t get any reply from him.
I am tired and feel so hopeless in waiting for him. It’s obvious that my husband deceived me and now has abandoned me for good. If that were so, I wish he will file a divorce in Canada and formally end our marriage. More than five years of waiting is too long. I am not getting any younger. I cannot marry until this marriage is annulled. I have my life and future ahead of me. I don’t want to go into another relationship without first fixing my present marital status. What shall I do?
I hope and pray that you can help me. I am looking forward to hear your advice and give me more information about my rights and options. Thanks’ for reading my email …God bless and more power always. M
A. Firstly, what happened to you is not the end of the world. Have courage. Life goes on and don’t lose hope. There are two possibilities that you could extricate yourself from your dilemma. The first option, is for your husband to initiate divorce proceedings that will severe your marriage with him. Considering that your husband is not a citizen of the Philippines, the divorce will be recognized in that jurisdiction. Where the divorce is given due course, your marriage with him is also deemed dissolved pursuant to second paragraph of Art. 26 of the Family Code, which provides:
xxx “Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law.”.
Your second option . Where there is no divorce filed by your husband and you have not heard from each other for sometime. And in this case, since June of 2003, you may now file a summary petition in Philippine Court, for a declaration of presumptive death of an absentee spouse, for purposes of contracting subsequent marriage, pursuant to Art. 41 of the Family Code, of the Philippines.
Under the Philippine law, if a spouse is absent and has not been heard for a period ranging from two(2) to four(4) years, depending upon the circumstances of the disappearance, the spouse present, can file a petition in court for presumptive declaration of death of the absentee spouse for purposes of contracting a subsequent marriage.
This proceeding is summary in nature and is not as rigid, strict or expensive as compared to in the annulment of marriage. Thank you for writing. Good luck.