Short answer. Yes. Article 815 authorises a Filipino abroad to make a will in any of the forms established by the law of the country he is in, and provides that such a will may be probated in the Philippines. The form may follow Dubai; what he may dispose of does not.

What the law says

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.

Civil Code, Article 815 — A Filipino Making a Will Abroad. Read the full provision →

Form follows the place of execution

Article 815 says: 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. Your father does not have to fly home, and he does not have to reproduce Philippine formalities in Dubai. If he executes the will in a form that country's law establishes for wills, the instrument is good as to form here. The second sentence matters as much as the first — the Code says in terms that such a will may be brought to probate in the Philippines.

Two things Article 815 does not do

First, it does not waive probate. Article 838 provides that no will passes real or personal property unless it is proved and allowed in accordance with the Rules of Court, so the Dubai will must still be brought before a Philippine court before the land here changes hands. Second, it does not unlock forms the Code prohibits outright. If he and your mother were to sign one instrument between them, Article 819 makes that joint will invalid in the Philippines even where the foreign law permits it. The permission in Article 815 runs to formalities, not to prohibitions.

How the will is made and what it may say are separate questions

This is where families are most often surprised. A will can be flawless in form and still be cut down in substance. Article 904 provides that a testator cannot deprive his compulsory heirs of their legitime except in cases expressly specified by law, and cannot impose on it any burden, encumbrance, condition or substitution. That reservation follows a Filipino testator wherever he signs. So a will drafted abroad on the assumption that a man may leave his estate entirely as he pleases will be reduced here to the extent it eats into the legitimes of his children or spouse.

What to sort out while he is still there

Ask him to keep the original safe and to tell one person in the family exactly where it is, since a will nobody can produce cannot be probated. It also helps enormously to record the details that will later need proving: where it was executed, under which country's law and form, who was present, and in what language. A will in Arabic will need a reliable translation before anyone here can read it. And have him list his Philippine assets by title number and location — that list, more than the will itself, is what saves the family months later.

Related provisions

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.