CA denies woman’s plea to have son’s surname changed

CEBU, Philippines - The Court of Appeals 18th Division denied the appeal of a woman who wanted to change the surname of her child, who bears the family name of her boyfriend.

The CA said it would be “disadvantageous, if not deleterious,” to the child to change his current name, hence it denied the mother’s appeal.

Roda, not her real name, petitioned the Regional Trial Court branch 14 for the cancellation of an entry in the record of her minor son, as the “father” he is using in his live birth is not his biological father.

She said the child was conceived after she was raped in 2008, the time when her boyfriend was abroad to work. Roda was supported by her boyfriend, who had earlier agreed to claim the boy as his own, hence affixed his signature at the back of the live birth.

It was some time in 2011 when Roda realized she made a serious mistake by letting her boyfriend take her son as his own.

But the trial court denied her petition, saying it would give “great injustice” to the child to grant it.

The petitioners, in their appeal, said there was no injustice that will be brought to the child since it was only a correction of the “wrong entry” of his birth certificate and that once and for all, it will “speak of the truth” of his existence “being an unrecognized illegitimate child of an unknown father.”

But the CA denied the petition, citing the Convention on the Rights of the Child which provides that “in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”

The court said that even if the name of the boy’s father becomes unknown or the boy continues to use his name, it “will not change the status of the child as illegitimate.”

But, the CA said “if the change of one’s status from legitimate to illegitimate exposes the child to humiliation and embarrassment resulting from the stigma of an illegitimate, how much more if a child who is already an illegitimate is still reduced to somebody whose father is declared unknown?”

“In the eyes of society, a child with an unknown father bears the stigma of dishonor,” it added.

The CA added that when a petition for cancellation or correction of an entry in the civil register involves “substantial and controversial alterations, including those on citizenship, legitimacy of paternity or filiation, or legitimacy of marriage, a strict compliance with the requirements of Rule 108 of the Rules of Court is mandated.”

The decision was penned by acting executive justice Edgardo delos Santos and concurred by associate justices Pamela Ann Abella Maxino and Maria Elisa Sempio Diy. – NSA (FREEMAN)