GR 27713; (February, 1981) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-27713 February 10, 1981
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR THE CORRECTIONS OF THE ENTRIES IN THE CORRESPONDING BIRTH CERTIFICATE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF ILOILO CITY RE-THE CIVIL STATUS OF THE PARENTS AND THE FILIATION OF THE MINORS: EDUARDO, NINFA, TEOPICIO, EMILIO, EUSEBIO, JOHN, AIDA, WILSON AND FELIPE, ALL SURNAMED TAN, ESPERANZA L. CELESTIAL, petitioner-appellee, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
Petitioner Esperanza L. Celestial filed a petition with the lower court seeking the correction of entries in the birth certificates of her nine children, all surnamed Tan. The petition aimed to change the civil status of the parents and the filiation of the minors. Specifically, it sought to declare Celestial as a Filipino citizen with a single civil status and to have her children recognized as the natural children of herself and Tan Chao, thereby also establishing their Philippine citizenship.
The lower court granted the petition. Its decision declared Celestial a single Filipino citizen and her children as the natural children of Tan Chao and Celestial, who were consequently also Filipino citizens. It then ordered the Local Civil Registrar of Iloilo City to make the corresponding corrections in the civil register. The Republic of the Philippines appealed this decision.
ISSUE
Whether a petition for correction of entries under Article 412 of the Civil Code is the proper remedy to effect changes concerning civil status and nationality.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision. The Court held that the lower court was fundamentally mistaken in granting a petition for correction of entries to effect substantial changes in civil status and citizenship. The legal logic is anchored on the settled doctrine established in Ty Kong Tin v. Republic and consistently reiterated in a line of subsequent cases, including Salim Wing v. Abubakar.
Article 412 of the Civil Code, which governs summary proceedings for correction of entries in the civil register, is strictly limited to the rectification of clerical or typographical errors. These are mistakes that are visible to the eyes or obvious from the record, such as misspellings or misprints. The provision does not extend to alterations that affect the civil status, nationality, or citizenship of a person, as these are substantial and contentious matters.
Changes pertaining to citizenship and legitimacy or illegitimacy of filiation involve complex adjudication of rights and status. Such substantial alterations must be threshed out in an appropriate adversarial action, such as a special proceeding for judicial approval of voluntary recognition or a direct action to establish filiation, where all relevant evidence can be properly presented and evaluated. The summary nature of a correction proceeding under Article 412 is ill-suited for resolving these consequential issues. Therefore, the lower court’s order was declared without force and effect, and the original entries in the civil register were ordered to stand.