Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

First Judicial Region
Baguio City
Branch 1

MR. DAVID A. NOVERAS,

Petitioner,
Special Proceedings No. 88686

- versus -

For: Judicial Recognition and/or

Enforcement of a Foreign Judgment
MRS. LETICIA T. NOVERAS, and/or
Civil Registrar General, and/or
the Local Civil Registrar of Baguio City
Respondent.
x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----x

PETITION

Petitioner, through undersigned counsel, unto this

Honorable Court, hereby alleges:

1. Petitioner MR. DAVID A. NOVERAS is an American

citizen, divorced, and a resident of No. 44 Santo Tomas
Proper, Baguio City where notices and summons can be
served.

2. Respondent MRS. LETICIA T. NOVERAS is a Filipino

citizen, and a resident of No. 78 South Drive, Baguio City
where summons, notices and court processes may be
served.

3. Respondent Civil Registrar General of the National

Statistics Office with office address at Ground Floor,
Solicare Building I, Ramon Magsaysay Blvd., Sta. Mesa
Manila where it may be served with summons and court
 processes. Said government agency is represented by its
Administrator and Civil Registrar General of the National
Statistics Office, Carmelita N. Ericta. The said office is
included as an indispensable party respondent of the
instant case.

4. Respondent Baguio City Civil Registrar is represented by

Janet M. Roxas of legal age, married and with office
address at the Baguio City Civil Registrar, Ground Floor,
Baguio City Hall, City Hall Drive, Baguio City. The said
office is included as an indispensable party respondent of
the instant case.

5. Petitioner and private respondent got married on May 10,

2010 at Baguio City. Attached is a copy of the Certificate
of Marriage marked as Annex A.

6. The parties have one child, Kylie Noveras who was born
on July 16, 2013 in Notre Dame Hospital. Attached is a
copy of his birth certificate marked as Annex "B".

7. However, the marriage was marred by frequent quarrels

and recurring arguments and it was difficult for them to
reconcile their differences.

8. Petitioner filed for divorce at the Superior Court of

California and on March 12, 2017, Superior Court of
California Hon. Judge Felix Reed issued a Final
Judgment of Divorce. Attached is a copy of the Final
Judgment of Divorce marked as Annex C.

9. That California is a US territory and the California

Family Code, US Code Annotated allows divorce.
Attached as Annex D is DIVISION 6. NULLITY,
DISSOLUTION, AND LEGAL SEPARATION, CHAPTER 8.
UNIFORM DIVORCE RECOGNITION ACT provisions of
the law.
10. Aliens may obtain divorces abroad which may be
recognized in the Philippines, provided they are valid
according to their national law.

11. Under , paragraph 2 of Art. 26 of the Family Code,

states to wit: x x x 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 capacity to remarry under Philippine law.

12. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court in the

case of Republic vs. Cipriano Orbecido III (GR No.
154380, Oct. 5, 2005) ruled that before a foreign divorce
decree can be recognized by our own courts, the party
pleading it must prove the divorce as a fact and
demonstrate its conformity to the foreign law allowing it.

13. That the Dissolution of Status secured by petitioner

conforms to the California Divorce Law.

14. That it is but just and fair for the Philippine

government to recognize and enforce the divorce secured
by the petitioner so as not to create a legal anomaly by
allowing the foreign husband to remarry but the Filipina
wife to continue to be bound in the marriage that does
not exist or is already nullified in Guam law.

15. Lastly, the Supreme Court in Gerbert R. Corpuz vs.

Daisylyn Tirol Sto. Tomas et. al. (G.R. No. 186571,
August 11, 2010) recognized that the foreign spouse has
the legal interest to file the petition for judicial
recognition of divorce decree and that the (t)he
recognition of the foreign divorce decree may be made in
a Rule 108 proceeding itself, as the object of special
proceedings (such as that in Rule 108 of the Rules of
 Court) is precisely to establish the status or right of a
party or a particular fact. Moreover, Rule 108 of the
Rules of Court can serve as the appropriate adversarial
proceeding[41] by which the applicability of the foreign
judgment can be measured and tested in terms of
jurisdictional infirmities, want of notice to the party,
collusion, fraud, or clear mistake

WHEREFORE, above premises considered, it is

respectfully prayed that the divorce/ Dissolution of
Status obtained by petitioner be judicially recognized and
that an order be issued directing the public respondent
Civil Registrar General and the Baguio Registrar to
annotate the divorce/Dissolution of Status in their
marriage certificate.

Other relief and remedies are likewise prayed for.

Baguio City, Philippines, 11th day of September 2019.

ATTY. TREMORLYN E. GALLENTE

Counsel for the Petitioner
Room 9 Lopez Bldg., Session Road, Baguio City
PTR No. 2190759; 05/03/2019; Baguio City
IBP OR No: 1008020; 05/03/2019; Baguio City
Roll No.: 69888; 04/09/2019
Baguio City, Philippines
TIN No. 500-285-659-00

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES}

CITY OF BAGUIO } S.S.
x ---------------------------------------------- x
 VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF NON-FORUM
SHOPPING

I, MR. DAVID A. NOVERAS of No. 44 Santo Tomas

Proper, Baguio City, Philippines after having been duly sworn
in accordance with law, depose and state that:

1. I am the petitioner in the above-entitled case;

2. I have caused the preparation and the filing of the

foregoing petition;

3. I have read the contents thereof and the facts stated

therein are true and correct of my personal knowledge
and on the basis of copies of documents and records in
my possession;

4. I have not commenced any other action or proceeding

involving the same issues in the Supreme Court, the
Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; that to
the best of my knowledge and belief, no such action or
proceeding is pending in the Supreme Court, the Court of
Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; and if I should
thereafter learn that a similar action or proceeding has
been filed or is pending before the Supreme Court, the
Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency, I
undertake to report that fact within five (5) days
therefrom to this Honorable Court.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand

this 11th day of September 2019, at Baguio City, Philippines.

MR. DAVID A. NOVERAS

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me, in the City of

Baguio, Philippines, this 11th day of September 2019, by MR.
DAVID A. NOVERAS, who is personally known to me, who is
the same person who personally signed before me the
foregoing document.
Doc. No. ____;
Page No. ____;
Book No. ____;
Series of
2019.