SOURCES OF CONFLICT OF LAWS the solemnizing officer with regard to the celebration of marriage shall be
performed by said consular official. (75a)
Constitution
 Articles IV
Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
1. Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of
this Constitution;
2. Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;
3. Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect
Philippine Citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and
4. Those who are naturalized in the accordance with law.
Section 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from
birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine
citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph
(3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.
Section 3. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the manner provided
by law.
Section 4. Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their
citizenship, unless by their act or omission they are deemed, under the law to have
renounced it.
Section 5. Dual allegiance of citizens is inimical to the national interest and shall
be dealt with by law.
 Article V, Section 1
Section 1. Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines, not
otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who
shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein
they propose to vote, for at least six months immediately preceding the election.
No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the
exercise of suffrage.
Family Code
 Articles 10,
Art. 10. Marriages between Filipino citizens abroad may be solemnized by a
consul-general, consul or vice-consul of the Republic of the Philippines. The
issuance of the marriage license and the duties of the local civil registrar and of
 21,
Art. 21. When either or both of the contracting parties are citizens of a foreign
country, it shall be necessary for them before a marriage license can be obtained,
to submit a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, issued by their
respective diplomatic or consular officials.
Stateless persons or refugees from other countries shall, in lieu of the certificate
of legal capacity herein required, submit an affidavit stating the circumstances
showing such capacity to contract marriage. (66a)
 26,
Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the
laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such,
shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4),
(5) and (6), 3637 and 38. (17a)
 35,
Art. 35. The following marriages shall be void from the beginning:
(1) Those contracted by any party below eighteen years of age even with the
consent of parents or guardians;
(2) Those solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages
unless such marriages were contracted with either or both parties believing in
good faith that the solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do so;
(3) Those solemnized without license, except those covered the preceding
Chapter;
(4) Those bigamous or polygamous marriages not failing under Article 41;
(5) Those contracted through mistake of one contracting party as to the identity
of the other; and
(6) Those subsequent marriages that are void under Article 53.
 36,
Art. 36. A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was
psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of
marriage, shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only
after its solemnization. (As amended by Executive Order 227)
 37,
Art. 37. Marriages between the following are incestuous and void from the
beginning, whether relationship between the parties be legitimate or illegitimate:
(1) Between ascendants and descendants of any degree; and
 (2) Between brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half blood. (81a)
 38,
Art. 38. The following marriages shall be void from the beginning for reasons of
public policy:
(1) Between collateral blood relatives whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the
fourth civil degree;
(2) Between step-parents and step-children;
(3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law;
(4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child;
(6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter;
(7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter;
(8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; and
(9) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed that
other person's spouse, or his or her own spouse. (82)
 80,
Art. 80. In the absence of a contrary stipulation in a marriage settlement, the
property relations of the spouses shall be governed by Philippine laws, regardless
of the place of the celebration of the marriage and their residence.
This rule shall not apply:
(1) Where both spouses are aliens;
(2) With respect to the extrinsic validity of contracts affecting property not situated
in the Philippines and executed in the country where the property is located;
and
(3) With respect to the extrinsic validity of contracts entered into in the Philippines
but affecting property situated in a foreign country whose laws require different
formalities for its extrinsic validity. (124a)
 96,
Section 4. Ownership, Administrative, Enjoyment and Disposition of the
Community Property
Art. 96. The administration and enjoyment of the community property shall belong
to both spouses jointly. In case of disagreement, the husband's decision shall
prevail, subject to recourse to the court by the wife for proper remedy, which must
be availed of within five years from the date of the contract implementing such
decision.
In the event that one spouse is incapacitated or otherwise unable to participate in
the administration of the common properties, the other spouse may assume sole
powers of administration. These powers do not include disposition or encumbrance
without authority of the court or the written consent of the other spouse. In the
absence of such authority or consent, the disposition or encumbrance shall be
void. However, the transaction shall be construed as a continuing offer on the part
of the consenting spouse and the third person, and may be perfected as a binding
contract upon the acceptance by the other spouse or authorization by the court
before the offer is withdrawn by either or both offerors. (206a)
 184
Art. 184. The following persons may not adopt:
(1) The guardian with respect to the ward prior to the approval of the final
accounts rendered upon the termination of their guardianship relation;
(2) Any person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
(3) An alien, except:
(a) A former Filipino citizen who seeks to adopt a relative by consanguinity;
(b) One who seeks to adopt the legitimate child of his or her Filipino spouse;
or
(c) One who is married to a Filipino citizen and seeks to adopt jointly with his
or her spouse a relative by consanguinity of the latter.
Aliens not included in the foregoing exceptions may adopt Filipino children in
accordance with the rules on inter-country adoptions as may be provided by law.
(28a, EO 91 and PD 603)
 187
Art. 187. The following may not be adopted:
(1) A person of legal age, unless he or she is a child by nature of the adopter or
his or her spouse, or, prior to the adoption, said person has been consistently
considered and treated by the adopter as his or her own child during minority.
(2) An alien with whose government the Republic of the Philippines has no
diplomatic relations; and
(3) A person who has already been adopted unless such adoption has been
previously revoked or rescinded. (30a, EO 91 and PD 603)
Civil Code
 Articles 14,
Article 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory
upon all who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory, subject to the principles of
public international law and to treaty stipulations. (8a)
 15,
Article 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and
legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though
living abroad. (9a)
 16,
Article 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the
country where it is stipulated.
However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the order
of succession and to the amount of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity
of testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the national law of the person
whose succession is under consideration, whatever may be the nature of the
property and regardless of the country wherein said property may be found. (10a)
 17,
Article 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public
instruments shall be governed by the laws of the country in which they are
executed.
When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular officials
of the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities established
by Philippine laws shall be observed in their execution.
Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those which have
for their object public order, public policy and good customs shall not be rendered
ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated, or by determinations or conventions
agreed upon in a foreign country. (11a)
 815,
Article 815. When a Filipino is in a foreign country, he is authorized to make a will
in any of the forms established by the law of the country in which he may be. Such
will may be probated in the Philippines. (n)
 816,
Article 816. The will of an alien who is abroad produces effect in the Philippines if
made with the formalities prescribed by the law of the place in which he resides,
or according to the formalities observed in his country, or in conformity with those
which this Code prescribes. (n)
 818,
Article 818. Two or more persons cannot make a will jointly, or in the same
instrument, either for their reciprocal benefit or for the benefit of a third person.
(669)
 819,
Article 819. Wills, prohibited by the preceding article, executed by Filipinos in a
foreign country shall not be valid in the Philippines, even though authorized by the
laws of the country where they may have been executed. (733a)
 829,
Article 829. A revocation done outside the Philippines, by a person who does not
have his domicile in this country, is valid when it is done according to the law of
the place where the will was made, or according to the law of the place in which
the testator had his domicile at the time; and if the revocation takes place in this
country, when it is in accordance with the provisions of this Code. (n)
 1039,
Article 1039. Capacity to succeed is governed by the law of the nation of the
decedent. (n)
 1319
Article 1319. Consent is manifested by the meeting of the offer and the
acceptance upon the thing and the cause which are to constitute the contract. The
offer must be certain and the acceptance absolute. A qualified acceptance
constitutes a counter-offer.
 1753
Article 1753. The law of the country to which the goods are to be transported shall
govern the liability of the common carrier for their loss, destruction or deterioration.
Penal Code
 Article 2
Article 2. Application of its provisions. - Except as provided in the treaties and laws
of preferential application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only
within the Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and
maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine
Islands or obligations and securities issued by the Government of the
Philippine Islands;
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands
of the obligations and securities mentioned in the presiding number;
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the
exercise of their functions; or
 5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of
nations, defined in Title One of Book Two of this Code.
Corporation Code
 Sections 123,
Section 123. Definition and rights of foreign corporations. – For the purposes of
this Code, a foreign corporation is one formed, organized or existing under any
laws other than those of the Philippines and whose laws allow Filipino citizens and
corporations to do business in its own country or state. It shall have the right to
transact business in the Philippines after it shall have obtained a license to transact
business in this country in accordance with this Code and a certificate of authority
from the appropriate government agency. (n)
 129
Section 129. Law applicable. – Any foreign corporation lawfully doing business in
the Philippines shall be bound by all laws, rules and regulations applicable to
domestic corporations of the same class, except such only as provide for the
creation, formation, organization or dissolution of corporations or those which fix
the relations, liabilities, responsibilities, or duties of stockholders, members, or
officers of corporations to each other or to the corporation. (73a)
 133 (on Doing Business Without License)
Section 133. Doing business without a license. – No foreign corporation
transacting business in the Philippines without a license, or its successors or
assigns, shall be permitted to maintain or intervene in any action, suit or
proceeding in any court or administrative agency of the Philippines; but such
corporation may be sued or proceeded against before Philippine courts or
administrative tribunals on any valid cause of action recognized under Philippine
laws. (69a)
Rules of Court
 Rule 4, Section 2;
Section 2. Venue of personal actions. — All other actions may be commenced
and tried where the plaintiff or any of the principal plaintiffs resides, or where the
defendant or any of the principal defendants resides, or in the case of a non-
resident defendant where he may be found, at the election of the plaintiff. (2[b]a)
 Rule 8, Sec. 6;
Section 6. Judgment. — In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or
foreign court, judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal, or of a board or officer, it is sufficient
to aver the judgment or decision without setting forth matter showing jurisdiction to
render it. (6)
 Rule 11, Sec. 2;
Section 2. Answer of a defendant foreign private juridical entity. — Where the
defendant is a foreign private juridical entity and service of summons is made on
the government official designated by law to receive the same, the answer shall
be filed within thirty (30) days after receipt of summons by such entity. (2a)
 Rule 14, Secs. 12-16;
Section 12. Service upon foreign private juridical entities. — When the defendant
is a foreign private juridical entity which has transacted business in the Philippines,
service may be made on its resident agent designated in accordance with law for
that purpose, or, if there be no such agent, on the government official designated
by law to that effect, or on any of its officers or agents within the Philippines. (14a)
Section 13. Service upon public corporations. — When the defendant is the
Republic of the Philippines, service may be effected on the Solicitor General; in
case of a province, city or municipality, or like public corporations, service may be
effected on its executive head, or on such other officer or officers as the law or the
court may direct. (15)
Section 14. Service upon defendant whose identity or whereabouts are unknown.
— In any action where the defendant is designated as an unknown owner, or the
like, or whenever his whereabouts are unknown and cannot be ascertained by
diligent inquiry, service may, by leave of court, be effected upon him by publication
in a newspaper of general circulation and in such places and for such time as the
court may order. (16a)
Section 15. Extraterritorial service. — When the defendant does not reside and is
not found in the Philippines, and the action affects the personal status of the
plaintiff or relates to, or the subject of which is, property within the Philippines, in
which the defendant has or claims a lien or interest, actual or contingent, or in
which the relief demanded consists, wholly or in part, in excluding the defendant
from any interest therein, or the property of the defendant has been attached within
the Philippines, service may, by leave of court, be effected out of the Philippines
by personal service as under section 6; or by publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in such places and for such time as the court may order, in which case
a copy of the summons and order of the court shall be sent by registered mail to
the last known address of the defendant, or in any other manner the court may
deem sufficient. Any order granting such leave shall specify a reasonable time,
which shall not be less than sixty (60) days after notice, within which the defendant
must answer. (17a)
Section 16. Residents temporarily out of the Philippines. — When any action is
commenced against a defendant who ordinarily resides within the Philippines, but
 who is temporarily out of it, service may, by leave of court, be also effected out of
the Philippines, as under the preceding section. (18a)
 Rule 23, Secs. 11 and 12;
Section 11. Persons before whom depositions may be taken in foreign countries.
— In a foreign state or country, depositions may be taken (a) on notice before a
secretary of embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice-consul, or consular
agent of the Republic of the Philippines, (b) before such person or officer as may
be appointed by commission or under letters rogatory; or (c) the person referred
to in section 14 hereof. (11a, R24)
Section 12. Commission or letters rogatory. — A commission or letters rogatory
shall be issued only when necessary or convenient, on application and notice, and
on such terms, and with such direction as are just and appropriate. Officers may
be designated in notices or commissions either by name or descriptive title and
letters rogatory may be addressed to the appropriate judicial authority in the foreign
country. (12a, R24)
 Rule 39, Sec. 48;
Section 48. Effect of foreign judgments or final orders. — The effect of a judgment
or final order of a tribunal of a foreign country, having jurisdiction to render the
judgment or final order is as follows:
(a) In case of a judgment or final order upon a specific thing, the judgment or
final order, is conclusive upon the title to the thing, and
(b) In case of a judgment or final order against a person, the judgment or
final order is presumptive evidence of a right as between the parties and
their successors in interest by a subsequent title.
In either case, the judgment or final order may be repelled by evidence of a want
of jurisdiction, want of notice to the party, collusion, fraud, or clear mistake of law
or fact. (50a)
 Rule 73, Sec. 1;
Section 1. Where estate of deceased persons settled. — If the decedents is an
inhabitant of the Philippines at the time of his death, whether a citizen or an alien,
his will shall be proved, or letters of administration granted, and his estate settled,
in the Court of First Instance in the province in which he resides at the time of his
death, and if he is an inhabitant of a foreign country, the Court of First Instance of
any province in which he had estate. The court first taking cognizance of the
settlement of the estate of a decedent, shall exercise jurisdiction to the exclusion
of all other courts. The jurisdiction assumed by a court, so far as it depends on the
place of residence of the decedent, or of the location of his estate, shall not be
contested in a suit or proceeding, except in an appeal from that court, in the original
case, or when the want of jurisdiction appears on the record.
 Rule 77, Sec, Sec. 1;
Section 1. Will proved outside Philippines may be allowed here. — Wills proved
and allowed in a foreign country, according to the laws of such country, may be
allowed, filed, and recorded by the proper Court of First Instance in the Philippines.
 Rule 92, Sec. 1;
Section 1. Where to institute proceedings. — Guardianship of a person or estate
of a minor or incompetent may be instituted in the Court of First Instance of the
province, or in the justice of the peace court of the municipality, or in the municipal
court chartered city where the minor or incompetent persons resides, and if he
resides in a foreign country, in the Court of First Instance of the province wherein
his property or the party thereof is situated; provided, however, that where the
value of the property of such minor or incompetent exceeds that jurisdiction of the
justice of the peace or municipal court, the proceedings shall be instituted in the
Court of First Instance.
In the City of Manila the proceedings shall be instituted in the Juvenile and
Domestic Relations Court.
 Rule 131, Section 3(n);
Section 3. Disputable presumptions. — The following presumptions are
satisfactory if uncontradicted, but may be contradicted and overcome by other
evidence:
XXX
(n) That a court, or judge acting as such, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere,
was acting in the lawful exercise of jurisdiction
XXX
 Rule 132 Secs. 19(a), 24 and 25
Section 19. Classes of Documents. — For the purpose of their presentation
evidence, documents are either public or private.
Public documents are:
a. The written official acts, or records of the official acts of the sovereign
authority, official bodies and tribunals, and public officers, whether of
the Philippines, or of a foreign country;
b. Documents acknowledge before a notary public except last wills and
testaments; and
c. Public records, kept in the Philippines, of private documents required
by law to the entered therein.
All other writings are private. (20a)
Section 24. Proof of official record. — The record of public documents referred to
in paragraph (a) of Section 19, when admissible for any purpose, may be
evidenced by an official publication thereof or by a copy attested by the officer
having the legal custody of the record, or by his deputy, and accompanied, if the
record is not kept in the Philippines, with a certificate that such officer has the
custody. If the office in which the record is kept is in foreign country, the certificate
may be made by a secretary of the embassy or legation, consul general, consul,
vice consul, or consular agent or by any officer in the foreign service of the
Philippines stationed in the foreign country in which the record is kept, and
authenticated by the seal of his office. (25a)

Section 25. What attestation of copy must state. — Whenever a copy of a

document or record is attested for the purpose of evidence, the attestation must
state, in substance, that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or a specific part
thereof, as the case may be. The attestation must be under the official seal of the
attesting officer, if there be any, or if he be the clerk of a court having a seal, under
the seal of such court. (26a)