Short answer. Yes. Once a Philippine court allows a will already probated abroad, Rule 77 gives it the same effect as if it had been originally proved and allowed in that same Philippine court — the certificate of allowance, with a copy of the will attached, is filed and recorded accordingly.

What the law says

the will shall have the same effect as if originally proved and allowed in such court.

Rule 77, Section 3 — When will allowed, and effect thereof. Read the full provision →

What happens once the court allows the will

Rule 77, Section 3 describes the step that follows a favorable hearing: if it appears at the hearing that the will should be allowed in the Philippines, the court shall so allow it, and a certificate of its allowance, signed by the judge, and attested by the seal of the court, to which shall be attached a copy of the will, shall be filed and recorded by the clerk. That certificate and the copy of the will attached to it become the local record of the allowance.

The will then has the same effect as a locally proved one

The rule states the consequence of that allowance in unambiguous terms: the will shall have the same effect as if originally proved and allowed in such court. A will that was first probated in a foreign proceeding is not given some lesser or provisional status here once a Philippine court allows it — it stands on exactly the same footing as a will that went through original probate before that same court.

Why equal effect matters for the estate

Because the allowed will carries the same effect as one originally proved locally, it becomes the document the estate proceeding in the Philippines is administered around — for identifying the heirs and legatees the will names, and for guiding how the estate here is distributed. Recognition is not a symbolic formality; it is what lets the will actually function as the governing instrument for property located in the Philippines, rather than remaining merely a foreign document with no direct force here.

What this section covers, and what it does not

This provision addresses the effect of allowance once the court has decided the will should be allowed — it does not itself set out the standards the court applies at that hearing to decide whether allowance is warranted. If you are trying to work out whether a particular foreign-probated will will be allowed in the first place, that question is decided separately from the effect this section describes once allowance has already been granted, and it turns on what the court finds at the hearing rather than on this provision alone.

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.