QC dad loses bid to drop father's surname

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court did not allow a Quezon City councilor, a son of former senator Anna Dominique Coseteng, to remove his father’s surname from his birth records.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, the SC said Julian Edward Emerson Coseteng Magpayo cannot change his name to Julian Edward Emerson Marquez-Lim Coseteng because the name alteration “goes so far as to affect his legal status in relation to his parents” and cannot be simply allowed as it would “change his legitimacy to that of illegitimacy.”

Born on Sept. 9, 1972 in Makati City, the councilor is the son of Fulvio Magpayo and Coseteng. He has been using his mother’s surname – not that of his father – when campaigning for election. Claiming that his parents were never legally married, Julian filed a petition to change his name so he could drop the surname Magpayo.

The High Court ruled that under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court, the councilor erred in filing the petition before a Quezon City court since his birth was registered in Makati City.

The SC also said Julian’s reason is not among the valid grounds for name alteration under Rule 103 of the Rules of Court. Among those are if the name is “ridiculous, dishonorable or extremely difficult to write or pronounce; if the change results in a legal consequence such as legitimation; to avoid confusion; when it has been continuously used and been known since childhood by a Filipino name and was unaware of alien parentage; when there’s desire to adopt a Filipino name to erase signs of former alienage in good faith; and when the surname causes embarrassment.”