G.R. No. 30366 , August 15, 1929
SOCORRO SANCHEZ DE STRONG, petitioner-appellee, vs. WILLIAM BEISHIR, respondent-appellant.

FACTS

Socorro Sanchez de Strong, the mother of minors Rose and Emma Strong, filed a petition for habeas corpus against William Beishir to regain custody of her children. She had previously executed a document (Exhibit 1) voluntarily surrendering the children to the American Guardian Association, a charitable institution under Act No. 3094 . The document authorized the association to consent to the children’s adoption without further notice to her. The mother later claimed she signed the document without understanding its contents, but the notary public and witnesses testified that it was read and explained to her before she signed. The American Guardian Association’s board subsequently resolved to place the children with Mr. and Mrs. Beishir for adoption, and an adoption proceeding was pending in court. The children were thus under the provisional custody of Beishir.

ISSUE

Whether habeas corpus is available to the mother to regain custody of her children after she voluntarily surrendered them to a charitable institution under Act No. 3094 , thereby renouncing her parental rights.

RULING

No, habeas corpus will not lie. The Supreme Court held that by executing the surrender document, the mother legally renounced her rights as the natural mother, including her patria potestas and custody over the minors, in favor of the American Guardian Association. This renunciation is authorized under the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, and Act No. 3094 . The evidence established that she signed the document with full knowledge of its contents. Consequently, the American Guardian Association lawfully assumed custody and could place the children with the Beishirs for adoption. The minors were legally under the respondent’s provisional custody, and the mother had no right to reclaim them via habeas corpus. The Court reversed the lower court’s decision and ordered the children restored to the respondent’s custody.