A foreigner who marries a Filipino can buy land in the Philippines

Q:I bought a piece of land from a Filipino woman last year. Later, I learned that this Filipino woman had married a foreigner. Her foreign husband claimed that he should have received money for the sale of the land because he was the real owner of the land and had bought it with his money. He claims that he can recover the money paid for the land because the Philippine contract law allows it. Can he take the land back from me?

Answer:Foreigners are generally prohibited from owning land in the Philippines. This is in line with the provision of article XIV, paragraph 14, of the 1973 Constitution, which states that "private land shall not be transferred to a person, company or association who wants to hold it except in the case of hereditary succession."

In your case, a foreigner married to a Filipino wrongly bases his claim on Article 1416 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines, which states: "If the agreement itself is not unlawful, but merely prohibited, and the prohibition of the law is to protect the plaintiff, then he may recover the money he has paid or delivered."

Unfortunately, this provision is relevant to agreements that are not illegal in themselves. To guide you further, in the case of FrenzelvsCatito(GR143958, 11 July 2003), the Supreme Court of the Philippines, through Justice Romeo Carrejo (RomeoCallejoSr.), stated: "This provision applies only to those contracts which are prohibited for private gain. It does not apply to contracts that are null and void AB initio. The sale of three plots of land to a foreign petitioner is itself illegal. These transactions are null and void from scratch because they violate the Constitution of the Philippines. Therefore, allowing the petitioner to recover the property or money for the purchase of the land would subvert public policy and would not be allowed."

Adopt the above decision according to your situation, since the law prohibits a foreigner from owning land in the Philippines, he cannot recover the land or money. Assuming that the expatriate husband was the real purchaser of the land, the transaction was void and not merely a prohibited contract, so he could not recover the money paid.

I hope we can answer your question. This advice is based solely on the facts you recount and our dissection of it. Our views may differ when other facts change.