CORRECTION OF CIVIL ENTRIES

715 SCRA 740 (2014)

CORRECTION OF CIVIL ENTRIES[1]
By Atty. EMMANUEL J. MAPILI[2]
___________________
1.
Introduction, p. 740
2. Relevant Laws, p. 741
3. When Rule 108 An Appropriate Adversary Proceeding, p. 756
4.
Susceptibility of Void Marriages to Collateral Attack, p. 758
5.
Recognition of Foreign Judgment, p. 760
6
Correction of Entries Re Fictitious Marriages Usually in Birth Certificates, p. 761
___________________
1.Introduction
The best proof of a marriage is the Certificate of Marriage. It is a certificate containing the full
name and address of each of the contracting party, their ages, date of the marriage, the names and
addresses of the witnesses, the full name, address
_______________
[1] Republic of the Philippines vs. Merlinda L. Olaybar, G.R. No. 189538, February 10, 2014.
[2] Atty. Emmanuel J. Mapili, a Career Service Executive Eligible (CSEE), before becoming
Hearing Commissioner at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), was senior
partner at the Buhain Soriano & Mapili Law Offices from 1995-1996. He is co-author of several
law books published by Central Book Supply, Inc.
741
and relationship of the minor contracting parties or party of the person or persons who gave
consent to the marriage and the full name, title and address of the solemnizing officer and
registered in the Register of Marriages.
In Republic of the Philippines vs. Merlinda L. Olaybar,[3] which is the case for annotation,
respondent discovered, when she requested from the National Statistics Office (NSO) a
Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) which is one of the requirements for marriage, that she
was already married to a Korean national. Because of this discovery, she filed a Petition for
Cancellation of Entries in the Marriage Contract before the Regional Trial Court (RTC)
pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules of Court, especially the entries in the portion of the marriage
contract containing information about the wife. During the hearing, respondent testified and
denied having contracted that marriage and claimed that she did not even know said Korean
national. Based on the evidence presented, the RTC decided in favor of respondent and ordered
the cancellation and correction of the entries on the portion of the marriage contract pertaining to
the wife. Petitioner questioned said decision on the ground, inter alia, that there was no clerical
spelling, typographical and other innocuous errors in the marriage contract for it to fall within the
provisions of Rule 108. The Supreme Court ruled that the RTC correctly applied Rule 108 of the
Rules of Court.
2.Relevant Laws

The controversies about entries of certain events in the civil registry office concern the issue of
whether the entry sought to be recorded (or corrected) is either clerical, i.e., harmless or
innocuous or substantial, i.e., involving matters that require full blown investigation. These are
various laws on entries of certain events in the civil registrar offices that will be used and
mentioned in this annotation.
_______________
[3] G.R. No. 189538, February 10, 2014.
742
A.

Law on Registry of Civil Status (Commonwealth Act No. 3753)

Section1.Civil Register.A civil register is established for recording the civil status of
persons, in which shall be entered: (a) births; (b) deaths; (c) marriages; (d) annulments of
marriages; (e) divorces; (f) legitimations; (g) adoptions; (h) acknowledgment of natural children;
(i) naturalization; and (j) changes of name.
Section2.Civil Registrar-General his duties and powers.The director of the National
Library shall be Civil Registrar-General and shall enforce the provisions of this Act. The Director
of the National Library, in his capacity as Civil Registrar-General, is hereby authorized to
prepare and issue, with the approval of the Secretary of Justice, regulations for carrying out the
purposes of this Act, and to prepare and order printed the necessary forms for its proper
compliance. In the exercise of his functions as Civil Registrar-General, the Director of the
National Library shall have the power to give orders and instructions to the local Civil registrars
with reference to the performance of their duties as such. It shall be the duty of the Director of
the National Library to report any violation of the provisions of this Act and all irregularities,
negligence or incompetency on the part of the officers designated as local civil registrars to the
(Chief of the Executive Bureau or the Director of the Non-Christian Tribes) Secretary of the
Interior, as the case may be, who shall take the proper disciplinary action against the offenders.
Section3.Local Civil Registrars.Except in the City of Manila, where the duties of local
civil registrar shall be performed by the officer of the Philippine Health Service designated by
the Director of said service, the Treasurers of the regular municipalities, municipal districts and
cities shall be local civil registrars of the respective municipalities, municipal districts or cities
and shall perform the duties imposed upon them by this Act without extra compensation,
743
in addition to their ordinary duties. In his capacity as local civil registrar, the officer designated
by the Director of the Health Service as local civil registrar of Manila and the treasurers above
mentioned shall be under the direction and supervision of the Civil Registrar-General.
Section4.Civil Register Books.The local registrars shall keep and preserve in their offices
the following books, in which they shall, respectively make the proper entries concerning the
civil status of persons:
1. Birth and death register;
2. Marriage register, in which shall be entered not only the marriages solemnized but also
divorces and dissolved marriages.
3. Legitimation, acknowledgment, adoption, change of name and naturalization register.
Section5.Registration and Certification of Birth.The declaration of the physician or
midwife in attendance at the birth or, in default thereof, the declaration of either parent of the
newborn child, shall be sufficient for the registration of a birth in the civil register. Such

declaration shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax and shall be sent to the local civil
registrar not later than thirty days after the birth, by the physician, or midwife in attendance at
the birth or by either parent of the newly born child.
In such declaration, the persons above mentioned shall certify to the following facts: (a) date and
hour of birth; (b) sex and nationality of infant; (c) names, citizenship, and religion of parents or,
in case the father is not known, of the mother alone; (d) civil status of parents; (e) place where
the infant was born; (f) and such other data may be required in the regulation to be issued.
In the case of an exposed child, the person who found the same shall report to the local civil
registrar the place, date and hour of finding and other attendant circumstances.
744
In case of an illegitimate child, the birth certificate shall be signed and sworn to jointly by the
parents of the infant or only the mother if the father refuses. In the latter case, it shall not be
permissible to state or reveal in the document the name of the father who refuses to acknowledge
the child, or to give therein any information by which such father could be identified.
Any fetus having human features which dies after twenty four hours of existence completely
disengaged from the maternal womb shall be entered in the proper registers as having been born
and having died.
Section6.Death certificate and register.No human body shall be buried unless the proper
death certificate has been presented and recorded in the office of the local civil registrar. The
physician who attended the deceased or, in his default the health officer concerned, or in default
of the latter, any member of the family of the deceased or any person having knowledge of the
death, shall report the same to the local health authorities, who shall issue a death certificate and
shall order the same to be recorded in the office of the local civil registrar. The death certificate,
which shall be issued by the attending physician of the deceased or, in his default, by the proper
health officer, shall contain the following data be furnished by the person reporting the death; (a)
date and place of death; (b) full name, (c) age, (d) sex, (e) occupation or profession, (f)
residence; (g) status as regards marriage, (h) nationality of the deceased, and (i) probable cause
of death.
During epidemics, bodies may be buried provided the proper death certificates have been
secured, which shall be registered not later than five days after the burial of the body.
Section7.Registration of marriages.All civil officers and priests or ministers authorized to
solemnize marriages shall send a copy of each marriage contract
745
solemnized by them to the local civil registrar within the time limit specified in the existing
Marriage Law.
In cases of divorce and annulment of marriage, it shall be the duty of the successful petitioner for
divorce or annulment of marriage to send a copy of the final decree of the court to that local civil
registrar of the municipality where the dissolved or annulled marriage was solemnized.
In the marriage register there shall be entered the full name and address of each of the
contracting parties, their ages, the place and date of the solemnization of the marriage, the names
and addresses of the witnesses, the full name, address, and relationship of the minor contracting
party or parties or the person or persons who gave their consent to the marriage, and the full
name, title, and address of the person who solemnized the marriage.

In cases of divorce or annulment of marriages, there shall be recorded the names of the parties
divorced or whose marriage was annulled, the date of the decree of the court, and such other
details as the regulations to be issued may require.
Section8.Registration of legitimations by subsequent marriage.The acknowledgment of the
children legitimated by subsequent marriage, referred to in article one hundred and twenty-one of
the Civil Code, may be recorded in the legitimation register, entering: (a) The names of the
parents; (b) that at the time when the children were conceived, the aforesaid parents could have
contracted marriage, and that they actually contracted marriage, stating the date and place when
such marriage was solemnized, the minister who officiated, and the civil register where such
marriage was recorded; (c) the names of the children legitimated with reference to their birth
certificates.
Section9.Registration of acknowledgment by public instrument.Any voluntary
acknowledgment by the natural parents or by only one of them by public instrument,
746
shall be recorded in the acknowledgment register of the civil registrar of the municipality where
the decree was issued. The names of the interested parties and such other data as may be required
by the regulations to be issued shall be entered in register.
It shall be the duty of the natural parents whose voluntary acknowledgment was may be means of
a public instrument to send a certified copy thereof to the local civil registrar of the municipality
in the civil register whereof the birth of the acknowledged child was recorded, not later than
twenty days after the execution of such instrument, for the registration thereof.
Section10.Registrations of adoptions, changes of name, and naturalization.In cases of
adoptions, changes of name, and naturalization, it shall be the duty of the interested parties or
petitioners to register the same in the local civil registrar of the municipality where the birth of
the acknowledged child was registered setting forth the following data: (a) full name of the
natural child acknowledged; (b) age; (c) date and place of birth; (d) status as to marriage, and
residence of the child acknowledged; (e) full name of the natural father or mother who makes the
acknowledgment; (f) full name of the notary public before whom the document was
acknowledged; (g) full names of witnesses to document; (h) date and place of acknowledgment
of said document and entry and page number of the notarial register in which the name was
recorded.
Section11.Duties of clerks of Court to register certain decisions.In cases of legitimation,
acknowledgment, adoption, naturalization and change of given or family name, or both, upon the
decree which issued the decree to ascertain whether the same has been registered, and if this has
not been done, to have said decree recorded in the office of the civil registrar of the municipality
where the court is functioning.
747
Section12.Duties of local civil registrar.Local civil registrars shall (a) file registrable
certificates and documents presented to them for entry; (b) complete the same monthly and
prepare and send any information required of them by the Civil Registrar-General; (c) issue
certified transcripts or copies of any certificate or document registered upon payment of proper
fees; (d) order the binding, properly classified, of all certificates or documents registered during
the year; (e) send to the Civil Registrar-General, during the first ten days of each month, a copy
of the entries made during the preceding month for filing; (f) index the same to facilitate search
and identification in case any information is required, and (g) administer oaths, free of charge,
for civil register purposes.

Section13.Documents registered are public documents.The books making up the civil

register and all documents relating thereto shall be considered public documents and be prima
facie evidence of the truth of the facts therein contained. They shall be open to the public during
office hours and shall be kept in a suitable safe which shall be furnished to the local civil
registrar at the expense of the general fund of the municipality concerned. The local registrar
shall not under any circumstances permit any document entrusted to his care to be removed from
his office, except by order of a court, in which case the proper receipt shall be taken. The local
civil registrar may issue certified copies of any document filed, upon payment of the proper fees
required in this Act.
Section14.Expenses and fees of the office of the civil registrar.All expenses in connection
with the establishment of local civil registers shall be paid out of municipal funds, and for this
purpose, municipal councils and boards shall make the necessary appropriation out of their
available general funds:
748
For the registration of documents and for certified copies of documents on file in the local civil
registrars office, fees shall be charged in accordance with the following schedule:
a. For registration of legitimations P2.00
b. For registration of an adoption 2.00
c.
For registration of an annulment of marriage 10.00
d. For registration of a divorce 10.00
e. For registration of naturalization 20.00
f.
For registration of a change of name 2.00
g. For certified copies of any documents in the register, for each one hundred words 20.00
The Civil Registrar General or any local civil registrar may issue certified copies of documents
free of charge for official use or at the request of a competent court. All fees collected for such
purposes shall accrue to the general fund of the municipality concerned.
Section15.Preservation of present register books.All birth, death and marriage registers
and other papers relating thereto at present in the keeping of the municipal secretaries or the
clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila shall be transferred by the same to the officers acting as
local civil registrars in each city or municipality and shall form part of the archives of the latter.
Section16.False statement.Any person who shall knowingly make false statement in the
forms furnished and shall present the same for entry in the civil register, shall be punished by
imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than six months, or by a fine of not less than
two hundred pesos nor more than five hundred or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section17.Failure to report.Other violations. Any person whose duty is to report any
fact concerning the
749
civil status of persons and who knowingly fails to perform such duty, and any person convicted
of having violated any of the provisions of this Act shall be punished by a fine of not less than
ten pesos nor more than two hundred.
Section18.Neglect of duty with reference to the provisions of this Act.Any local registrar
who fails properly to perform his duties in accordance with the provisions of this Act and of the
regulations issued hereunder, shall be punished for the first offense, by an administrative fine in a
sum equal to his salary for not less than fifteen days nor more than three months, and for a
second or repeated offense, by removal from the service.

Section19.Application of this Act to the special provinces.The Director of the National

Library, in his capacity as Civil Registrar-General, is hereby authorized upon recommendation of
the (Director of Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes) Secretary of the Interior, to designate the
municipalities in the specially organized provinces where the provisions of this Act shall be
applied.
Section20.Transitory provisions.All rights, duties and powers established by Act
Numbered thirty-six hundred and thirteen, entitled the Marriage Law, with the reference to the
procedure for the issuance of the marriage license prior to the solemnization of marriage, the
registration, of marriages, and the filing of the documents in connection therewith, conferred and
imposed by said Act upon the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila and the municipal
secretaries, are hereby transferred to the officer of the Health Service in accordance with section
three of this Act, and to the municipal treasurers, respectively, in their capacity as local registrars.
All duties and powers established by subsections (d) and (e) of section twenty-one hundred and
twelve of the Administrative Code, imposed and conferred by said section upon the municipal
secretaries, are hereby likewise
750
transferred to the municipal treasurers in their capacity as local civil registrars.
Section21.All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Section22.This Act shall take effect three months after its approval.
Approved, November 26, 1930.
B.Civil Code of the Philippines
Art.407.Acts, events and judicial decrees concerning the civil status of persons shall be
recorded in the civil register.
Art.408.The following shall be entered in the civil register: (1) Births; (2) marriages; (3)
deaths; (4) legal separations; (5) annulments of marriage; (6) judgments declaring marriages void
from the beginning; (7) legitimations; (8) adoptions; (9) acknowledgments of natural children;
(10) naturalization; (11) loss, or (12) recovery of citizenship; (13) civil interdiction; (14) judicial
determination of filiation; (15) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and (16) changes of name.
Art.410.The books making up the civil register and all documents relating thereto shall be
considered public documents and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein contained.
Art.411.Every civil registrar shall be civilly responsible for any unauthorized alteration made
in any civil register, to any person suffering damage thereby. However, the civil registrar may
exempt himself from such liability if he proves that he has taken every reasonable precaution to
prevent the unlawful alteration.
Art.412.No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected, without a judicial order.
751
C.Republic Act No. 9048[4]
SECTION1.Authority to Correct Clerical or Typographical Error and Change of First Name
or Nickname.No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order,
except for clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname, the day and
month in the date of birth or sex of a person where it is patently clear that there was a clerical or
typographical error or mistake in the entry, which can be corrected or changed by the concerned

city or municipal civil registrar or consul general in accordance with the provisions of this Act
and its implementing rules and regulations. (As amended by R.A. 10172,[5] approved August 15,
2012)
SECTION2.Definition of Terms.As used in this Act, the following terms shall mean:
1.City or Municipal civil registrar refers to the head of the local civil registry office of the
city or municipality, as the case may be, who is appointed as such by the city or municipal mayor
in accordance with the provisions of existing laws.
2.Petitioner refers to a natural person filing the petition and who has direct and personal
interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in an entry or change of first name or
nickname in the civil register.
_______________
[4] An Act Authorizing The City or Municipal Civil Registrar or The Consul General to Correct a
Clerical or Typographical Error in an Entry and/or Change of First Name or Nickname in the
Civil Register without Need of a Judicial Order, Amending for this Purpose Articles 376 And 412
of the Civil Code of the Philippines.
[5] An Act Further Authorizing the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General to
Correct Clerical or Typographical Errors in the Day and Month in the Date of Birth or Sex of a
Person Appearing in the Civil Register Without Need of a Judicial Order Amending for this
Purpose Republic Act Numbered Ninety Forty-Eight.
752
3.Clerical or typographical error refers to a mistake committed in the performance of
clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is
harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth, mistake in the
entry of day and month in the date of birth or the sex of the person or the like, which is visible to
the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to
other existing record or records: Provided, however, That no correction must involve the change
of nationality, age, or status of the petitioner. (As amended by R.A. 10172, approved August 15,
2012)
4.Civil Register refers to the various registry books and related certificates and documents
kept in the archives of the local civil registry offices, Philippine Consulates and of the Office of
the Civil Registrar General.
5.Civil registrar general refers to the Administrator of the National Statistics Office which is
the agency mandated to carry out and administer the provision of laws on civil registration.
6.First name refers to a name or nickname given to a person which may consist of one or
more names in addition to the middle and last names.
SECTION3.Who May File the Petition and Where.
Any person having direct and personal interest in the correction of a clerical or typographical
error in an entry and/or change of first name or nickname in the civil register may file, in person,
a verified petition with the local civil registry office of the city or municipality where the record
being sought to be corrected or changed is kept.
In case the petitioner has already migrated to another place in the country and it would not be
practical for such party, in terms of transportation expenses, time and effort to appear in person
before the local civil registrar keeping the documents to be corrected or changed, the petition
may be
753

filed, in person, with the local civil registrar of the place where the interested party is presently
residing or domiciled. The two (2) local civil registrars concerned will then communicate to
facilitate the processing of the petition.
Citizens of the Philippines who are presently residing or domiciled in foreign countries may file
their petition, in person, with the nearest Philippine Consulates.
The petitions filed with the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall be
processed in accordance with this Act and its implementing rules and regulations.
All petitions for the clerical or typographical errors and/or change of first names or nicknames
may be availed of only once.
SECTION4.Grounds for Change of First Name or Nickname.The petition for change of
first name or nickname may be allowed in any of the following cases:
The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or
extremely difficult to write or pronounce.
The new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and
he has been publicly known by that by that first name or nickname in the community; or
The change will avoid confusion.
SECTION5.Form and Contents of the Petition.The petition for correction of a clerical or
typographical error, or for change of first name or nickname, as the case may be, shall be in the
form of an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by law to administer
oaths. The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to establish the merits of the petition and shall
show affirmatively that the petitioner is competent to testify to the matters stated. The petitioner
shall state the particular erroneous entry or entries, which
754
are sought to be corrected and/or the change sought to be made.
The petition shall be supported with the following documents:
(1)A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book
containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed;
(2)At least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon
which the correction or change shall be based; and
(3)Other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul
general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition.
No petition for correction of erroneous entry concerning the date of birth or the sex of a person
shall be entertained except if the petition is accompanied by earliest school record or earliest
school documents such as, but not limited to, medical records, baptismal certificate and other
documents issued by religious authorities; nor shall any entry involving change of gender
corrected except if the petition is accompanied by a certification issued by an accredited
government physician attesting to the fact that the petitioner has not undergone sex change or sex
transplant. The petition for change of first name or nickname, or for correction of erroneous entry
concerning the day and month in the date of birth or the sex of a person, as the case may be, shall
be published at least once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation.
Furthermore, the petitioner shall submit a certification from the appropriate law enforcements,
agencies that he has no pending case or no criminal record.
755

The petition and its supporting papers shall be filed in three (3) copies to be distributed as
follows: first copy to the concerned city or municipal civil registrar, or the consul general;
second copy to the Office of the Civil Registrar General; and third copy to the petitioner. (As
amended by R.A. 10172, approved August 15, 2012)
SECTION6.Duties of the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General.The city
or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to whom the petition is presented shall examine
the petition and its supporting documents. He shall post the petition in a conspicuous place
provided for that purpose for ten (10) consecutive days after he finds the petition and its
supporting documents sufficient in form and substance.
The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall act on the petition and shall
render a decision not later than five (5) working days after the completion of the posting and/or
publication requirement. He shall transmit a copy of his decision together with the records of the
proceedings to the Office of the Civil Registrar General within five (5) working days from the
date of the decision.
SECTION7.Duties and Powers of the Civil Registrar General.The civil registrar general
shall, within ten (10) working days from receipt of the decision granting a petition, exercise the
power to impugn such decision by way of an objection based on the following grounds:
a. The error is not clerical or typographical;
b. The correction of an entry or entries in the civil register is substantial or controversial as it
affects the civil status of a person; or
c. The basis used in changing the first name or nickname of a person does not fall.
756
3. When Rule 108 An Appropriate Adversary Proceeding
As mentioned above, the petitioner in the Olaybar case questioned the decision of the RTC
ordering the cancellation and correction of the entries on the portion of the marriage contract
pertaining to the wife on the ground, inter alia, that there was no clerical spelling,
typographical and other innocuous errors in the marriage contract for it to fall within the
provisions of Rule 108. A proceeding for correction and/or cancellation of entries in the civil
register under Rule 108 ceases to be summary in nature and takes on the characteristics of an
appropriate adversary proceeding when all the procedural requirements under Rule 108 are
complied with. While it is true that in special proceedings formal pleadings and a hearing may be
dispensed with, and the remedy granted upon mere application or motion. But this is not always
the case, as when the statute expressly provides. Hence, a special proceeding is not always
summary. One only has to take a look at the procedure outlined in Rule 108 to see that what is
contemplated therein is not a summary proceeding per se. Rule 108 requires publication of the
petition three (3) times, i.e., once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks (Sec. 4). Rule 108 also
requires inclusion as parties of all persons who claim any interest which would be affected by the
cancellation or correction (Sec. 3). The civil registrar and any person in interest are also required
to file their opposition, if any, within fifteen (15) days from notice of the petition, or from the last
date of publication of such notice (Sec. 5). Last, but not the least, although the court may make
orders expediting the proceedings, it is after hearing that the court shall either dismiss the
petition or issue an order granting the same (Sec. 7).[6]
_______________

[6] Republic vs. Valencia, 141 SCRA 462 (1986).

757
In Lee vs. Court of Appeals,[7] petitioners contended that resort to Rule 108 of the Revised
Rules of Court was improper since private respondents sought to have the entry for the name of
petitioners mother changed from Keh Shiok Cheng to Tiu Chuan who was a completely
different person. What private respondents therefore sought was not merely a correction in name
but a declaration that petitioners were not born of Lee Tek Shengs legitimate wife, Keh Shiok
Cheng, but of his mistress, Tiu Chuan, in effect a bastardization of petitioners. Petitioners thus
label private respondents suits before the lower courts as a collateral attack against their
legitimacy in the guise of a Rule 108 proceeding.
The Supreme Court held: It is precisely the province of a special proceeding such as the one
outlined under Rule 108 of the Revised Rules of Court to establish the status or right of a party,
or a particular fact. The petitions filed by private respondents for the correction of entries in the
petitioners records of birth were intended to establish that for physical and/or biological reasons
it was impossible for Keh Shiok Cheng to have conceived and given birth to the petitioners as
shown in their birth records. Contrary to petitioners contention that the petitions before the
lower courts were actually actions to impugn legitimacy, the prayer therein is not to declare that
petitioners are illegitimate children of Keh Shiok Cheng, but to establish that the former are not
the latters children. There is nothing to impugn as there is no blood relation at all between Keh
Shiok Cheng and petitioners.
The petitioners assert, however, that making the proceedings adversarial does not give trial
courts the license to go beyond the ambit of Rule 108 which is limited to those corrections
contemplated by Article 412 of the New Civil Code or mere clerical errors of a harmless or
innocuous nature.
Republic Act No. 9048 substantially amended Article 412 of the New Civil Code, to wit:
_______________
[7] G.R. No. 118387, October 11, 2001, 367 SCRA 110.
758
SECTION1.Authority to Correct Clerical or Typo graphical Error and Change of First Name
or Nickname.No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order,
except for clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname which can be
corrected or changed by the concerned city or municipal civil registrar or consul general in
accordance with the provisions of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations.
The above law speaks clearly. Clerical or typographical errors in entries of the civil register are
now to be corrected and changed without need of a judicial order and by the city or municipal
civil registrar or consul general. The obvious effect is to remove from the ambit of Rule 108 the
correction or changing of such errors in entries of the civil register. Hence, what is left for the
scope of operation of Rule 108 are substantial changes and corrections in entries of the civil
register.
Republic Act No. 9048 is Congress response to the confusion wrought by the failure to delineate
as to what exactly is that so-called summary procedure for changes or corrections of a harmless
or innocuous nature as distinguished from that appropriate adversary proceeding for changes or
corrections of a substantial kind. For we must admit that though we have constantly referred to

an appropriate adversary proceeding, we have failed to categorically state just what that
procedure is. Republic Act No. 9048 now embodies that summary procedure while Rule 108 is
that appropriate adversary proceeding.
4. Susceptibility of Void Marriages to Collateral Attack
The Olaybar case raises some interesting questions on the susceptibility of void marriages to a
collateral attack.
It must be noted that Section 2(a) of the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void
Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages (A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC) states that a
759
petition for declaration of absolute nullity of void marriage may be filed solely by the husband or
the wife. This means that a trial court has no jurisdiction to nullify marriages in a special
proceeding for cancellation or correction of entry under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. Thus,
the validity of marriage can be questioned only in a direct action to nullify the marriage.[8]
However, the Supreme Court, in Nial vs. Bayadog,[9] made a pronouncement that a void
marriage can be attacked collaterally. In said case, the father of petitioners (FOP) was married to
the mother of petitioners (MOP) on September 26, 1974. MOP was shot by FOP resulting in her
death on April 24, 1985. One year and 8 months thereafter or on December 11, 1986, FOP and
respondent got married without any marriage license. In lieu thereof, FOP and respondent
executed an affidavit dated December 11, 1986 stating that they had lived together as husband
and wife for at least five years and were thus exempt from securing a marriage license. On
February 19, 1997, FOP died in a car accident. After FOP's death, petitioners filed a petition for
declaration of nullity of the marriage of FOP to respondent alleging that the said marriage was
void for lack of a marriage license. Respondent filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that
petitioners have no cause of action since they are not among the persons who could file an action
for annulment of marriage. The Supreme Court, in granting the petition, ruled that for other
purposes, such as but not limited to determination of heirship, legitimacy or illegitimacy of a
child, settlement of estate, dissolution of property regime, or a criminal case for that matter, the
court may pass upon the validity of marriage even in a suit not directly instituted to question the
same so long as it is essential to the determination of the case.
_______________
[8] Braza vs. The City Civil Registrar of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, 607 SCRA 638
(2009), cited in Fujiki vs. Marinay, G.R. No. 196049, June 26, 2013, 700 SCRA 69.
[9] G.R. No. 133778, March 14, 2000, 328 SCRA 122.
760
Similarly, in the Olaybar case, the Supreme Court seemed to have classified the Petition for
Cancellation of Entries in the Marriage Contract before the RTC pursuant to Rule 108 of the
Rules of Court filed not as a direct action when it stated that [r]espondent indeed sought, not the
nullification of marriage as there was no marriage to speak of, but the correction of the record of
such marriage to reflect the truth as set forth by the evidence. Otherwise stated, in allowing the
correction of the subject certificate of marriage by cancelling the wife portion thereof, the trial
court did not, in any way, declare the marriage void as there was no marriage to speak of.
5.

Recognition of Foreign Judgment

Rule 108 creates a remedy to rectify facts of a persons life which are recorded by the State
pursuant to the Civil Register Law or Act No. 3753. In the Olaybar case, the RTC simply
cancelled or corrected he entries in the marriage contract that are false especially regarding the
identity of one of the parties to show the inexistence of the marriage.
Similarly, in Fujiki vs. Marinay,[10] the Supreme Court ruled that a husband or wife of a prior
marriage can file a petition to recognize a foreign judgment nullifying the subsequent marriage
between his or her spouse and a foreign citizen on the ground of bigamy.
Since the recognition of a foreign judgment only requires proof of fact of the judgment, it may be
made in a special proceeding for cancellation or correction of entries in the civil registry under
Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. Rule 1, Section 3 of the Rules of Court provides that [a] special
proceeding is a remedy by which a party seeks to establish a status, a right, or a particular fact.
These are facts of public consequence
_______________
[10] G.R. No. 196049, June 26, 2013, 700 SCRA 69.
761
such as birth, death or marriage,[11] which the State has an interest in recording. Thus, the
recognition of the foreign divorce decree may be made in a Rule 108 proceeding itself, as the
object of special proceedings (such as that in Rule 108 of the Rules of Court) is precisely to
establish the status or right of a party or a particular fact. [12]
6. Correction of Entries Re Fictitious Marriages Usually in Birth Certificates
The Olaybar case is unique in that the Supreme Court allowed a Petition for Correction or
Cancellation of Entries pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules of Court to correct or cancel the entry
in a registered marriage contract on the ground that the marriage was fictitious. Previous Rule
108 proceedings correcting entries in the civil register involving fictitious marriages have been
upheld by the Supreme Court only in relation to references of the fictitious marriages found in
other registered documents such as birth certificates.[13]
_______________
[11] Act No. 3753, Sec. 1.Civil Register.A civil register is established for recording the civil
status of persons, in which shall be entered: (a) births; (b) deaths; (c) marriages; (d) annulments
of marriages; (e) divorces; (f) legitimations; (g) adoptions; (h) acknowledgment of natural
children; (i) naturalization; and (j) changes of name.
Cf. Rules of Court, Rule 108, Sec. 2. Entries subject to cancellation or correction.Upon good
and valid grounds, the following entries in the civil register may be cancelled or corrected: (a)
births; (b) marriages; (c) deaths; (d) legal separations; (e) judgments of annulments of marriage;
(f) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (g) legitimations; (h) adoptions; (i)
acknowledgments of natural children; (j) naturalization; (k) election, loss or recovery of
citizenship; (1) civil interdiction; (m) judicial determination of filiation; (n) voluntary
emancipation of a minor; and (o) changes of name.
[12] Corpuz vs. Sto. Tomas, 628 SCRA 266 (2010), cited in Fujiki vs. Marinay, G.R. No.
196049, June 26, 2013, 700 SCRA 69.
[13] See the following cases: Labayo-Rowe vs. Republic, No. L-53417, December 8, 1988, 168
SCRA 294; Republic vs Lim, G.R. No.
762
To illustrate, the following are the undisputed facts in Republic vs. Kho:[14]

On February 12, 2001, Carlito and his siblings Michael, Mercy Nona and Heddy Moira filed
before the RTC of Butuan City a verified petition for correction of entries in the civil registry of
Butuan City to effect changes in their respective birth certificates. Carlito also asked the court in
behalf of his minor children, Kevin and Kelly, to order the correction of some entries in their
birth certificates.
In the case of Carlito, he requested the correction in his birth certificate of the citizenship of his
mother to Filipino instead of Chinese, as well as the deletion of the word married opposite
the phrase Date of marriage of parents because his parents, Juan Kho and Epifania Inchoco
(Epifania), were allegedly not legally married.
The same request to delete the married status of their parents from their respective birth
certificates was made by Carlitos siblings Michael, Mercy Nona, and Heddy Moira.
With respect to the birth certificates of Carlitos children, he prayed that the date of his and his
wife's marriage be corrected from April 27, 1989 to January 21, 2000, the date appearing in their
marriage certificate.
The Supreme Court allowed the correction of the entry of the birth certificates of Carlito I. Kho
and his siblings Michael, Mercy Nona, and Heddy Moira because the entry under Date of
marriage of parents shows that their parents
_______________
153883, January 13, 2004, 419 SCRA 123; Republic vs. Benemerito, G.R. No. 146963, March
15, 2004, 425 SCRA 488; Alba vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 164041, July 29, 2005, 465
SCRA 495; Republic vs. Kho, G.R. No. 170340, June 29, 2007, 526 SCRA 177; and Republic
vs. Coseteng-Magpayo, G.R. No. 189476, February 2, 2011, 641 SCRA 533.
[14] G.R. No. 170340, June 29, 2007, 526 SCRA 177.
763
(Juan Kho and Epifania Inchoco) were married when in truth they were never factually
married; the Supreme Court also allowed the correction of entry of the birth certificates of
Carlitos children Kevin and Kelly Dogmoc Kho because his childrens birth certificates shows
that Carlito and his wife were married on April 27, 1989 but they were not factually married at
this time and were only married on January 21, 2000.
o0o
Copyright 2016 Central Book Supply, Inc. All rights reserved. [Correction of Civil Entries,
715 SCRA 740(2014)]