Having Mario for your attorney must be like growing up as a Chicago White Socks fan. You keep waiting and waiting. It takes literal decades for them to win the pennant. In their case, it was 100 years. Then back to business as usual. The business of losing.
Since my last post on Mario, my girl and I have explored the other options that I listed in my last post.
New Lawyer
First, transferring to another lawyer.
She went and had a consultation with another lawyer yesterday. Talk about honor amongst thieves. Wow.
First, in her country there is no such thing as a free consultation. You pay cash for the privilege of speaking to a lawyer.
My girl laid out her situation with the new lawyer. After patiently listening, he told her that the case would cost 250,000 pesos and that he would start from the very beginning. Yep, not pick up the case from the other guy (Mario) and go forward, but back to “Go” and it will cost lots more than two hundred dollars. At current rates, 250K pesos is about $4,167. Oh, and the calendar will reset too. Going forward with the new lawyer will likely be a good nine months more waiting.
Waiting on Mario could be about three months if he actually starts doing anything.
Using Sharia Law
Second is the real star of the day.
I looked into Sharia Law and divorce in the Philippines. This appears to be something of an urban myth; although I have been assured that it can be done.
Sharia brings up several issues. First is it legal? As with most law, the answer is yes but …
Remember the maxim of government, the large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.
To qualify, my girl first would have to convert to Islam. No chance of her doing that so what follows becomes just a theoretical discussion.
The legal carve-out for Sharia Law in the Philippines is supposed to only apply to Muslims. Others have tried using it and been bitten along the way.
The rules are that if you had a marriage via a civil ceremony, then you can’t seek divorce using Sharia. The stuff on the Internet is varied and interesting. I will provide some samples because it’s a good read.
“Within the Philippine legal framework, divorce is generally not recognized except for Filipino Muslims, where it is permitted …”
“… the application of Sharia-based divorce is specifically designed to respect the cultural and religious practices of the Muslim population. Under PD 1083, various forms of divorce are recognized, including Talaq (repudiation by the husband), Faskh (judicial decree), and Khul’ (divorce initiated by the wife).”
Can non-Muslims avail of Sharia-based divorce in the Philippines?
No, Sharia-based divorce is exclusively available to Filipino Muslims.
I then found a website that helps people get visa to the U.S. from the Philippines. These two examples stopped me cold.
In this example, an IR1 spousal visa was denied at the embassy phase for the following given reason:
“Your first marriage was not solemnized under Muslim law or Article 13 of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines (MPL). Philippine law does not recognize the validity of your Sharia divorce because the Philippine Family Code is the first or sole legal basis of the underlying marriage. This is true even if one party to a civil marriage later converts to Islam. You do not qualify for the IR1 visa category.”
In this case, the embassy didn’t recognize the divorce, because the original marriage was solemnized in the Roman Catholic church, therefore doesn’t qualify as a legitimate Islamic divorce under their criteria.
Another of our customers was denied a K1 fiance visa from the Philippines for the same reason. The U.S. sponsor decided to issue a Congressional Inquiry to find out more about why he was denied. Here is the letter he received:
“The case filed by Mr. [U.S. Sponsor] on behalf of [Alien] has been refused and returned to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Ms. [Alien]’s [Date] marriage to [Alien’s prior husband] did not fall within the provisions of the law allowing for Sharia divorce in the Philippines and, as such, their subsequent divorce in [Month, Year] cannot be legally recognized. For this reason, Ms. [Alien] is not free to marry and does not qualify for the fiancee (K1) visa category.”
Note: The Congressional Inquiry mentioned above is likely the result of someone complaining to their local congressional member via a constituent complaint.
I have included the linked copies of the documents because I could.
Filipinos who have married under civil law cannot get a divorce after converting to Islam, contrary to false posts circulating on Facebook in the Catholic-majority Philippines, where divorce remains illegal. Divorce under Islamic law is only possible if a couple was married under those terms, multiple lawyers in the archipelago nation told AFP.
Converting to Islam falsely touted as ‘pathway to divorce’ in Catholic-majority Philippines
Sample of a Facebook ad that is claimed as fraudulent by this website can be found here.
‘Against public policy
‘Katrina Legarda, a prominent Filipino lawyer specialising in family law, told AFP on February 2 that those who were married under civil law remain accountable under the system.
Legarda pointed to the example of a November 2021 Supreme Court ruling that found a man with a subsisting marriage guilty of bigamy after converting to Islam and marrying another woman under Muslim law (archived link).
False posts about divorce proliferated because of the Philippines’ lack of the process, and Sharia law was now being used to “circumvent” the country’s civil law, said lawyer Lorna apunan.
“A change of religion to Muslim just to be able to secure a divorce is contrary to public policy and law,” Kapunan told AFP on February 9, 2024.
Conclusion
Since some of these websites are using documents as proof that using Sharia Law to obtain a divorce for a Christian is illegal, I’m inclined to believe it over some verbal assurances to the contrary.
After seeing these website posts, I messaged the person that had offered to help us get a Sharia Divorce for my girl and cancelled my inquiry. I want to help her but I don’t want to tarnish our opportunity by purposely breaking the rules and nixing our immigration paperwork before it’s even filed.
Sadly, this leaves us with Mario as our only viable option. God has three answers to prayer, yes, no, or wait. Guess it’s wait … for now.