G.R. No. 238021, June 14, 2021
Philippine Statistics Authority (Formerly National Statistics Office) and Philippine Statistics Authority-Legazpi City, Petitioners, vs. Clarilyn Ferolino, Respondent.

FACTS

On August 12, 2015, respondent Clarilyn Ferolino applied for a copy of her Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) at the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). On August 24, 2015, she received a Feedback Form from PSA stating her application could not be processed as scheduled. The form indicated that her mother had a first marriage on March 3, 1978, and required Ferolino to verify the status of that marriage—whether still existing, dissolved by court, or terminated by the death of the first husband—before her birth on June 12, 1993. The form stated that if the first marriage was still existing, the process of legitimation could not be effected, and Republic Act No. 9255 (acknowledgment) would apply. It further instructed that if the first marriage was still existing, she must file a petition for cancellation of the registered affidavit of legitimation through court before PSA would process the R.A. 9255 acknowledgment. Ferolino filed a special civil action for mandamus in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) to compel PSA to issue the COLB. The RTC dismissed the petition, finding it insufficient in form and substance, and ruled that PSA’s Feedback Form did not constitute unlawful neglect of duty but was an attempt to ascertain her correct status, and that Ferolino failed to exhaust administrative remedies. The Court of Appeals reversed the RTC, granted the petition for mandamus, and ordered PSA to issue the birth certificate, holding that PSA’s duty to issue the COLB is ministerial and that requiring additional steps unlawfully neglected that duty.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in granting the writ of mandamus to compel the Philippine Statistics Authority to issue a copy of Clarilyn Ferolino’s Certificate of Live Birth.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the petition, reversed the Decision of the Court of Appeals, and reinstated the Orders of the Regional Trial Court dismissing the petition for mandamus. The Court held that a writ of mandamus is not proper in this case. The duty of the PSA to issue a certified copy of a birth certificate under Section 12 of Act No. 3753 is ministerial only when the application is based on an existing record. However, the PSA has the correlative duty to ensure the accuracy of the entries in the civil registry. The Feedback Form showed that the PSA was not refusing to issue a copy but was ensuring the correct status of Ferolino was reflected, as her birth record contained an affidavit of legitimation, but she was born while her mother’s prior marriage was subsisting, making legitimation legally impossible under Article 177 of the Family Code. The PSA’s act was a prudent step to correct an erroneous entry, not an unlawful neglect of a ministerial duty. Furthermore, Ferolino failed to exhaust administrative remedies within the PSA hierarchy, and mandamus cannot be used to compel the performance of an act that requires the exercise of discretion or to enforce a right that is not clear and certain.