Help Please: Which marriage is valid? Does this mean that I am tagged married and him, single?

Hello Attorneys,

Good day!

I am married to a man with dual citizenship.  He is both a Filipino and a US citizen.

I haven't seen my ex-husband for more or less 5 years.  We have not communicated at all.  I know he is in the states and I have tried contacting him before through a text message and facebook message so we could discuss the annulment or any legal process of terminating the marriage but to no avail. Until recently, I learned that he married someone else in the states, and they now have a child.  

Don't get me wrong, I am alright with the fact that he started a new family. I am just worried about my status.  I may end up still married to him, and him on the other hand is free as a bird since he is not living in the Philippines.  I feel that it's a bit unfair that I get to suffer the consequences of us being married to each other.  He could have atleast initiated the annulment or something.

I want to clarify, is their marriage legal? Does this mean that I can consider our marriage null and void? Anyway, it has also been a long time that I haven't heard from him. I heard something about after 5 years of no communication between married couples, then the marriage is declared a null and void-or atleast that's what I heard.

I don't wanna stay married to him. What would be my best course of action at this point?

Please, I need someone to advise me, and someone to clarify this issue. It's very confusing for me. Help please.


Thank you very much!

Scared and Scarred Mommy

I'm afraid annulment is not viable, but legal separation on the ground of abandonment by your husband without justifiable cause. Take note, legal separation does not sever marital ties which means, you cannot remarry.

Yes, it is that unfair, he is divorced from you (elsewhere than in the Philippines), but you are still married to him.
This depend of it's different laws in the Philippines and USA concerning divorce/annulment.

There is no exact law that governs your problem. But you can file a petition to the RTC, a court of general jurisdiction, to make a declaration on your civil status. It MAY be a petition for declaratory relief, invoking jurisprudence on Art. 26 par. 2 of the Family Code because although your husband did not divorce you, your situation is within the legislative intent of the provision. This is just my suggestion.

if he didn't file for divorce first, then his marriage is bigamous