Republic v.

Magpayo
G.R. No. 189476

Facts:

Julian Magpayo, the respondent herein, claimed that his parents were never actually
married and denied his status as a legitimate child. He then filed a petition to change his last
name to Cosenteng with the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City (“RTC”). The same petition
was also published in a newspaper and a copy furnished to the Office of the Solicitor General
(“OSG”). The RTC granted the petition and order the Civil Registrar to Makati City to make the
following changes: (1) Delete the date and place of the Marriage of the Parties, (2) change the
last name to Consenteng, (3) delete the Consenteng as his middle name, and (3) delete the name
under the entry of his father. The OSG opposed the position.

Issue:
Whether or not the RTC exceeded its jurisdiction when it directed the deletion of the
name of the respondent’s father from his birth certificate, and the petition for a change of name
affects his status from legitimate to illegitimate, thus it should be through proper proceedings.

Held:
The court ruled that the RTC did indeed exceed its jurisdiction. Since, petitioner deines
his status a legitimate child, such is a substantial and controversial alteration and must be filed at
the RTC where the corresponding Civil Registry Office is located and that all persons who have
or claim any interest which would be affected thereby shall be made parties to the proceeding, as
provided under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. The petition was filed at Quezon City and the
father was not made a party to the case. If the said rule was exercised without observing the
proper proceedings as mentioned in the preceding sentence, it would be an invalid exercise
which would tend to increase or modify substantive rights. Thus, it would be improper for an
entry in a civil registry to change with a judicial order that depended on an erroneous exercise of
the said rule.