5/28/2020
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the divorce he obtained and his remarriage with Ryo Miken, duly
authenticated by the Consulate-General of Japan and the Department of
Foreign Affairs, Manila, is hereto attached as Annex ‘E’ and made an integral
part hereof.
8. Recently, petitioner applied for the renewal of her Philippine passport to
indicate her surname with her husband Masatomi Y. Ando but she was told
at the Department of Foreign Affairs that the same cannot be issued to her
until she can prove by competent court decision that her marriage with her
said husband Masatomi Y. Ando is valid until otherwise declared.
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12. Prescinding from the foregoing, petitioner’s marriage with her said
husband Masatomi Y. Ando must therefore be honored, considered and
declared valid, until otherwise declared by a competent court. Consequently,
and until then, petitioner therefore is and must be declared entitled to the
issuance of a Philippine passport under the name ‘Edelina Ando y Tungol.’
Hence, this petitioner pursuant to Rule 63 of the Rules of Court.[2]
On 29 October 2010, petitioner filed with the RTC a Petition for Declaratory Relief,
which was later raffled off to Branch 46. She impleaded the Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) as respondent and prayed for the following reliefs before the lower court:
WHEREFORE, petitioner most respectfully prays of this Honorable Court that
after proper proceedings, judgment be rendered, as follows:
(a) declaring as valid and subsisting the marriage between petitioner
Edelina T. Ando and her husband Masatomi Y. Ando until otherwise declared
by a competent court;
(b) declaring petitioner entitled to the issuance of a Philippine Passport
under the name “Edelina Ando y Tungol”; and
(c)
directing the Department of Foreign Affairs to honor petitioner’s
marriage to her husband Masatomi Y. Ando and to issue a Philippine
Passport to petitioner under the name “Edelina Ando y Tungol”.
Petitioner prays for such other just and equitable reliefs.[3]
On 15 November 2010, in an Order dismissing the Petition for want of cause and
action, as well as jurisdiction, the RTC held thus:
Records of the case would reveal that prior to petitioner’s marriage to Masatomi Y.
Ando, herein petitioner was married to Yuichiro Kobayashi, a Japanese National, in
Candaba, Pampanga, on September 16, 2001, and that though a divorce was obtained
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/57529
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