ERMITA, Manila — It’s finally settled, divorced filed and approved in other countries will now be recognized in the Philippines, according to the Supreme Court (SC).

In a landmark ruling, the High Tribunal announced that local courts can affirm a divorce obtained abroad, whether done through an administrative or legal process or by mutual agreement.

“The Court held that the type of divorce, whether administrative or judicial, did not matter. As long as the divorce is valid under the foreign spouse's national law, it will be recognized in the Philippines for the Filipino spouse,” the SC Public Information Office stated.

The ruling was issued following the decision on the case of a Filipina who married a Japanese citizen in Quezon City in 2004 and then the couple later moved to Japan, where they obtained a “divorce decree by mutual agreement.”

The High Court explained that the Filipina later filed a petition for the judicial recognition of the foreign divorce and for the declaration of her capacity to remarry before a regional trial court (RTC).

However, after the RTC ruled favorably on the Filipina’s behalf and granted her petition, it was contested by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) which argued that only foreign divorce decrees issued by a court can be recognized in the Philippines.

For its part, the SC cited the Family Code, which states that Filipinos previously married to foreigners can seek judicial recognition of their divorce.