G.R. No. L-32746 August 31, 1981
Republic of the Philippines, petitioner, vs. Florentina C. Caparosso and Hon. Honorato B. Masakayan, in his capacity as Judge of the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Branch V (Quezon City), respondents.

FACTS

Florentina C. Caparosso, the private respondent, filed a petition in the Court of First Instance of Rizal for the correction of the birth certificate of her minor son, Victor Uy. She alleged that she is the common-law wife of Benito Uy, a Chinese citizen, and that all their children, except Victor, were registered as Filipino citizens. She claimed that Victor was erroneously registered as “Chinese” due to wrong information supplied by the attending midwife. The petition, filed under Article 412 of the Civil Code and Rule 108 of the Rules of Court, was published, and no opposition was filed. The lower court, after receiving ex parte evidence, granted the petition and ordered the Civil Registrar of Marikina to change Victor Uy’s nationality from “Chinese” to “Filipino.”
The Republic of the Philippines appealed to the Supreme Court, contending that the trial court erred in finding a mere mistake in registration without evidence that Caparosso and Benito Uy were not married, and that the correction sought substantially affected citizenship, which cannot be altered in a summary proceeding.

ISSUE

Whether a petition for correction of entries under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court is the proper remedy to change the citizenship or nationality of a person as recorded in the civil register.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower court. The Court held that the petition, while ostensibly for a clerical correction, in effect sought a judicial declaration of Philippine citizenship. This is impermissible under a summary proceeding for correction of entries. The Court reiterated the well-settled doctrine established in Ty Kong Tin vs. Republic that allowable corrections under Article 412 of the Civil Code are limited to clerical errors, not those affecting civil status, nationality, or citizenship. A change in citizenship is a substantial alteration that can only be established in an appropriate adversary proceeding where all interested parties are notified, ensuring the adjudication of a real controversy and guarding against fraud.
The Court emphasized that the civil register is a public document constituting prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. Allowing such a fundamental change via a summary proceeding would open the door to fraud and have far-reaching detrimental consequences. The doctrine disallowing changes to nationality in summary correction proceedings is deeply entrenched and has been consistently upheld in a long line of cases, including recent 1981 decisions. Therefore, the proper remedy for a claim of Filipino citizenship is an adversarial action, not a petition for correction under Rule 108.