THIRD DIVISION [ G.R. No. 199515, June 25, 2018 ] RHODORA ILUMIN RACHO, A.K.A. "RHODORA RACHO TANAKA," PETITIONER, VS. SEIICHI TANAKA, LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF LAS PIÑAS CITY, AND THE ADMINISTRATOR AND CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE, RESPONDENTS. DECISION LEONEN, J.: Judicial recognition of a foreign divorce requires that the national law of the foreign spouse and the divorce decree be pleaded and proved as a fact before the Regional Trial Court. The Filipino spouse may be granted the capacity to remarry once our courts find that the foreign divorce was validly obtained by the foreign spouse according to his or her national law, and that the foreign spouse's national law considers the dissolution of the marital relationship to be absolute. This is a Petition for Review on Certiorari[1] assailing the June 2, 2011 Decision[2] and October 3, 2011 Order[3] of Branch 254, Regional Trial Court, Las Piñas City, which denied Rhodora Ilumin Racho's (Racho) Petition for Judicial Determination and Declaration of Capacity to Marry.[4] The denial was on the ground that a Certificate of Divorce issued by the Japanese Embassy was insufficient to prove the existence of a divorce decree. Racho and Seiichi Tanaka (Tanaka) were married on April 20, 2001 in Las Piñas City, Metro Manila. They lived together for nine (9) years in Saitama Prefecture, Japan and did not have any children. [5] Racho alleged that on December 16, 2009, Tanaka filed for divorce and the divorce was granted. She secured a Divorce Certificate[6] issued by Consul Kenichiro Takayama (Consul Takayama) of the Japanese Consulate in the Philippines and had it authenticated[7] by an authentication officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs. [8] She filed the Divorce Certificate with the Philippine Consulate General in Tokyo, Japan, where she was informed that by reason of certain administrative changes, she was required to return to the Philippines to report the documents for registration and to file the appropriate case for judicial recognition of divorce. [9] She tried to have the Divorce Certificate registered with the Civil Registry of Manila but was refused by the City Registrar since there was no court order recognizing it. When she went to the Department of Foreign Affairs to renew her passport, she was likewise told that she needed the proper court order. She was also informed by the National Statistics Office that her divorce could only be annotated in the Certificate of Marriage if there was a court order capacitating her to remarry.[10] She went to the Japanese Embassy, as advised by her lawyer, and secured a Japanese Law English Version of the Civil Code of Japan, 2000 Edition.[11] On May 19, 2010, she filed a Petition for Judicial Determination and Declaration of Capacity to Marry [12] with the Regional Trial Court, Las Piñas City. On June 2, 2011, Branch 254, Regional Trial Court, Las Piñas City rendered a Decision, [13] finding that Racho failed to prove that Tanaka legally obtained a divorce. It stated that while she was able to prove Tanaka's national law, the Divorce Certificate was not competent evidence since it was not the divorce decree itself. [14] Racho filed a Motion for Reconsideration,[15] arguing that under Japanese law, a divorce by agreement becomes effective by oral notification, or by a document signed by both parties and by two (2) or more witnesses. [16] In an Order[17] dated October 3, 2011, the Regional Trial Court denied the Motion, finding that Racho failed to present the notification of divorce and its acceptance.[18]