What to file and Who may file:

❖Affidavit of Admission of Paternity

❖The father, mother, person himself, guardian

❖Private Handwritten Instrument

❖The father
❖If deceased, the mother, person himself,
guardian

❖Affidavit to Use the Surname of the

Father
❖The father, mother, person himself, guardian
How to Register

1. Examination of completeness of entries

2. Acceptance of documents for registration

3. Recording of entries in the Register of Legal Instruments

4. Annotation on the Remarks Portion of the Register of

Births

5. Distribution of documents

6. Issuance
Briones v. Miguel, G.R No. 156343, October 18, 2004

- Article 213 of the Family Code, “No child under seven

(7) years of age shall be separated from the mother,
except when the courts finds cause to order otherwise”
such as the mother’s unfitness to exercise sole parental
authority
 Republic v. Abadilla, G.R. No.133054

Petition for Correction

Gerson Abadilla + Children’s
of entries in the Birth
Luzviminda surname was
Certificate
Celestino= Not changed to
Married a. Deletion of date and Celestino
place of marriage
Have 2 Children
with surname b. Correction of name
Abadilla from “Herson to
Gerson”
– Tonog v. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 129248, February 7, 2002)
✓ “The right of custody accorded to parents springs from the exercise of parental authority.”
✓ “As regards parental authority, ‘there is no power, but a task; no complex of rights, but a
sum of duties; no sovereignty but a sacred trust for the welfare of the minor.’”

– Silva v. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 114742, July 17, 1997)

✓ It is the natural right and duty of parents and
those exercising parental authority to give their
children:

✓ Love, affection, advice and counsel,

companionship and understanding
(Article 220 of the New Civil Code)
➢ David vs. Court of Appeals

Writ of
Habeas Corpus
– In the matter of the petition for cancellation of certificate of live
birth of Tinitigan v. Republic (G.R. No. 222095, August 7, 2007)

❑ “The law is clear that illegitimate children shall use the surname and shall
be under the parental authority of their mother. The use of the word "shall"
underscores its mandatory character. The discretion on the part of the
illegitimate child to use the surname of the father is conditional upon proof of
compliance with RA 9255 and its IRR.”

❑ “Thus, it is mandatory that the mother of an illegitimate child signs the birth
certificate of her child in all cases, irrespective of whether the father
recognizes the child as his or not. The only legally known parent of an
illegitimate child, by the fact of illegitimacy, is the mother of the child who
conclusively carries the blood of the mother. Thus, this provision ensures
that individuals are not falsely named as parents.”

❑ The mother must sign and agree to the information entered in the birth
certificate because she has the parental authority and custody of the
illegitimate child.
ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN: RIGHTS

2. Be entitled to support in Conformity with this Code

– Verceles v. Posada (G.R. No. 159785, April 27, 2007)

– People v. Glabo
– Article 345, RPC: Monthly Support
1. Indemnification;
2. 2. Acknowledgment,
3. 3. Support
ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN: RIGHTS

3. The legitime of each illegitimate child shall consist of one half of the
legitime of a legitimate child
 LEGITIMATED CHILDREN
Art. 177, FC as amended by Republic Act 9858

Art. 177, FC as amended by

Republic Act 9858
 Definition of Terms
– Legitimation - is a process wherein a child who was
born out of wedlock and is therefore, considered
illegitimate, shall, by fiction, be considered
legitimate upon the valid marriage of his parents.

– Legitimated Child – An illegitimate child who is given

the rights of a legitimate child, provided the
following requisites are present:
 Requisites to Qualify for
Legitimation
The parents of the illegitimate
child were not under legal Subsequent
impediment to marry each other valid marriage
Process of
except when they were
disqualified because either or both
+ between the
parents of the
= legitimation

of them were below 18 years of illegitimate child

age
*(In Re: Enriquez, 29 Phil 167)
-Being a Catholic priest is
not an impediment
*(DE SANTOS VS ANGELES
G.R. No. 105619 December 12,
1995)
-Bigamous marriage: Not valid
 Articles 177, Family Code

“Children conceived and born outside of

wedlock of parents who, at the time of the
conception of the former, were not disqualified
by any impediment to marry each other, or so
disqualified only because either or both of them
were below eighteen (18) years of age, may be
legitimated.”
 Requirements for registration
of legitimation of illegitimate
Legitimation of children by subsequent marriage of
parents shall be recorded in the civil registry office of the
place where the birth was recorded. The requirements for
registration of legitimation of illegitimate children are:
a) Certificate of Marriage;
b) Certificate of Live Birth of the child;
c) Affidavit of paternity/acknowledgement (Certified Photocopy/Xerox Copy)
d) Affidavit of legitimation
 Legal Effects of Legitimation

– Article 179. “Legitimated Children shall enjoy the same

rights as legitimate children.”
– Article 180. “The effects of legitimation shall retroact to the
time of the child’s birth”
– Article 181. “The legitimation of children who died before
the celebration of the marriage shall benefit their
descendants”
 Legal Effects of Legitimation

– Article 179. “Legitimated Children shall enjoy

the same rights as legitimate children.”
Legitimated children shall have the same status and
rights of legitimate children, and such rights enjoyed
as of the time of their birth.
 Rights of Legitimated Children
(Art. 264 CC)

Legitimate children shall have the right :

– To bear the surnames of the father and the mother
– To receive support from them, from their ascendants, and in a
proper case, from their brothers and sisters, in conformity with
article 291 and,
– To the legitimate and other successional rights which this Code
recognize in their favor. (Art. 263, Civil Code of the Philippines)
 Legal Effects of Legitimation

– Article 180. “The effects of legitimation shall

retroact to the time of the child’s birth”

The act of legitimation produces effects as of the

child’s birth, for legal purposes, the child is
deemed born a legitimate child.
 Legal Effects of Legitimation

–Article 181. “The legitimation of

children who died before the
celebration of the marriage shall
benefit their descendants”
– Article 182. “Legitimation may be
impugned only by those who are
prejudiced in their rights, within five
years from the time their cause of
action accrues.”
This is done by those prejudiced in their
rights within 5 years from the time their
cause of action accrues
 Grounds For Impugning
Legitimation

– The subsequent marriage of the child’s parents is void.

– The child allegedly legitimated is not natural.

– The child is not really the child of the alleged parents.

 Abadilla vs. Tabiliran
AM No. MTJ-92-716, October 25, 1995

– Art. 269 CC. Only natural children can be legitimated. Children born
outside of wedlock of parents who, at the time of the conception of the
former, were not disqualified by any impediment to marry each other,
are natural.
– Legitimation is limited to natural children and cannot include those
born of adulterous relations (Ramirez vs. Gmur, 42 Phil. 855). The
Family Code: (Executive Order, No. 209), which took effect on August 3,
1988, Art. 177. Only children conceived and born outside of wedlock of
parents who, at the time of the conception of the former, were not
disqualified by any impediment to marry each other may be
legitimated.
 The Reasons For The Limitation
To “Natural Children”
1) The rationale of legitimation would be destroyed;
2) It would be unfair to the legitimate children in terms of successional
rights;
3) There will be the problem of public scandal, unless social mores
change;
4) It is too violent to grant the privilege of legitimation to adulterous
children as it will destroy the sanctity of marriage;
5) It will be very scandalous, especially if the parents marry many years
after the birth of the child. (The Family Code, p. 252, Alicia v. Sempio Diy).
 DE SANTOS VS ANGELES
G.R. No. 105619 December 12, 1995
– Under the Civil Code, children born of marriages which are void from the
beginning or after the decree of annulment in voidable marriages are
"natural children by legal fiction".

– Children conceived of parents who, at that time, were not disqualified to

marry by any impediment are the "natural children proper".

– The parents of the child could not validly marry because one had a prior
subsisting marriage. They did marry but their marriage was bigamous or
void from the beginning.
 DE SANTOS VS ANGELES
G.R. No. 105619 December 12, 1995

Will the child born of that bigamous marriage who is considered a

"natural child by legal fiction" become legitimated when his
parents married after the death of the first spouse?
– “The Supreme Court held that even if Art. 89 of the Civil Code gave
natural children by legal fiction the same status, rights and
obligations as acknowledged natural children, Art. 269 applies
only to natural children proper or those born outside of wedlock of
parents who, at the time of the conception, were not disqualified
by any impediment to marry.”
 DE SANTOS VS ANGELES
G.R. No. 105619 December 12, 1995

– Art. 895. The legitime of each of the acknowledged natural children and
each of the natural children by legal fiction shall consist of one-half of
the legitime of each of the legitimate children or descendants

– Natural children by legal fiction cannot be deprived of their legitime

equivalent to one-half of that pertaining to each of the legitimate
children or descendants of the recognizing parent, to be taken from the
free disposable portion of the latter’s estate.