RULE 108

CANCELLATION OR CORRECTION OF
ENTRIES IN THE CIVIL REGISTRY
By: ALMUJER U. AMMANG

SUMMARY

Who may file petition

Entries subject to cancellation or
correction
Parties
Notice and Publication
Opposition
Expediting Proceedings
Order

Section 1 : Who may file

petition?

Any person interested in any act,

event, order or decree concerning the
civil status of persons which has been
recorded in the civil register, may file
a verified petition for the cancellation
or correction of any entry relating
thereto, with the Court of First
Instance of the province where the
corresponding civil registry is located

R.A. 9048 vs Rule 108

Rule 108 is modified by R.A. 9048

(effective, Feb. 8, 2001):
R.A. 9048
SUMMARY
PROCEEDINGS

Rule 108
ADVERSARY
PROCEEDINGS

Typographical errors

Change in civil status

Clerical errors

Change of
Citizenship/Nationality

Change of first name

Other substantial
changes

Change of nickname

What constitutes
Clerical/Typographical errors?

Section 2, Paragraph 3 of R.A. 9048 provides:

"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 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, status or sex of
the petitioner

What are the valid grounds for

change of First Name/Nickname?

As provided in R.A. 9048, Section 4:

The petition for change of first name or nickname

may be allowed in any of the following cases:

(1) The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to
be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or
extremely difficult to write or pronounce.
(2) 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
(3) The change will avoid confusion.

When to file petition?

No law/rule specifically prescribes a fixed

time for filing special proceedings under
Rule 108
As such, Art. 1149 of the civil code
applies:
Other actions whose periods are not fixed in this

Code or in other laws must be brought within five

(5) years from the time the right of action
accrues.
Thereby, said right of action accrues upon
DISCOVERY OF ERROR.

ELEMENTS OF CAUSE OF ACTION

1.

2.
3.

A right in favor of the plaintiff by

whatever means and under
whatever law it arises or is created;
An obligation on the part of the
defendant to respect such right;
An act or omission on the part of
such defendant violative of the right
of the plaintiff

Section 2. Entries subject to

cancellation or correction

Upon good and valid grounds, the following

entries in the civil register may be
cancelled
or corrected:(i) acknowledgments of
(a)
births:
natural children;

(b) marriage;

(j) naturalization;

(c) deaths;

(k) election, loss or recovery

of citizenship;

(d) legal separations;

(l) civil interdiction;

(e) judgments of annulments

of marriage;

(m) judicial determination of

filiation;

(f) judgments declaring

marriages void from the
beginning;

(n) voluntary emancipation of

a minor; and

(g) legitimations;

(o) changes of name

(h) adoptions;

Section 3. Parties

When cancellation or correction of an

entry in the civil register is sought,
the following shall be made parties to
the proceeding:
civil registrar ; and
all persons who have or claim any interest

which would be affected

Section 4. Notice and publication

Upon the filing of the petition, the court

shall, by an order, fix the time and place
for the hearing of the same, and cause
reasonable notice thereof to be given to
the persons named in the petition.
The court shall also cause the order to be
published once a week for three (3)
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of
general circulation in the province

PUBLICATION SUFFICIENT
TO INCLUDE ALL
INTERESTED PARTIES

A petition for correction is an

ACTION IN REM: an action against a
thing and not against a person
An IN REM proceeding is validated
essentially through publication (e.g.
notifying all possible interested
parties)

Section 5. Opposition

The civil registrar and any person

having or claiming any interest under
the entry whose cancellation or
correction is sought may, within
fifteen (15) days from notice of the
petition, or from the last date of
publication of such notice, file his
opposition thereto

The following are likewise entitled to

oppose the petition:

civil registrar
all persons who have or claim any
interest which would be affected

Section 6. Expediting
proceedings

The court in which the proceeding is

brought may make orders expediting
the proceedings, and may also grant
preliminary injunction for the
preservation of the rights of the
parties pending such proceedings.

Section 7. Order

After hearing, the court may either

dismiss the petition or issue an order
granting the cancellation or
correction prayed for. In either case,
a certified copy of the judgment shall
be served upon the civil registrar
concerned who shall annotated the
same in his record

Thank You!!!
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