Best interest of child and tender years doctrine

A Filipino couple, both working in the United States (US), met and fell in love. After three (3) years of living together and having a daughter, they got married. A few months later, the wife gave birth to their second child, but their relationship began to deteriorate. The wife claimed that her husband nagged her too much about money matters while he claimed she was a “spendthrift, buying expensive jewelry and antique furniture instead of attending to household expenses.”

Eventually, the relationship turned sour and the wife moved to a different state, leaving her husband and children behind. The husband moved back to the Philippines. Due to the demands of his work, however, he was forced to live in the US once again, so he left his children with his sister. It was only two years later that the mother of the children went to the Philippines to gain custody over her children.