Short answer. Section 3 of Rule 4 lets you file where you (the plaintiff) reside, or where the defendant's property is located, if the defendant neither resides nor is found in the Philippines, and the action affects your personal status or property of the defendant located here.
What the law says
If any of the defendants does not reside and is not found in the Philippines, and the action affects the personal status of the plaintiff, or any property of said defendant located in the Philippines, the action may be commenced and tried in the court of the place where the plaintiff resides, or where the property or any portion thereof is situated or found.
Rule 4, Section 3 — Venue of actions against nonresidents. Read the full provision →
The scope: nonresident, absent defendants
Section 3 is specifically triggered when a defendant 'does not reside and is not found in the Philippines' — meaning ordinary venue rules premised on the defendant's residence within the country simply cannot apply. Without a special rule, a plaintiff could be left with no clear venue at all for a case against someone entirely outside the reach of the ordinary Philippine venue framework.
Two situations it covers
The section applies where the action either 'affects the personal status of the plaintiff' — such as certain family-status related actions — or concerns 'any property of said defendant located in the Philippines.' These are the two categories of case where Philippine courts retain a meaningful connection to the dispute even though the defendant himself is beyond the country's reach, since either the plaintiff's status or Philippine-situated property is directly involved.
Where such a case may be filed
In either situation, the action may be commenced and tried in the court of the place where the plaintiff resides, or where the property (or any portion of it) is situated or found. This gives the plaintiff a concrete, workable venue despite the defendant's absence from the country — anchoring venue to something within the Philippines that the court can actually reach, rather than to the defendant's whereabouts.
Why anchoring venue to the plaintiff or the property matters
Ordinary venue rules generally anchor a case to the defendant's residence, which is exactly what is unavailable when the defendant is neither residing in nor found within the Philippines. Section 3 solves that gap by anchoring venue instead to something the Philippine court system can actually reach — the plaintiff's own residence, or property of the defendant physically located here — so the case is not simply left without any workable Philippine venue just because the defendant cannot be located within the country.