GR L 14359; (January, 1960) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-14359; January 29, 1960
In the matter of the petition for change of names. SALVADORA ONG alias PECK SUAN and YAP KENG HUE, ET AL., petitioners-appellees, vs. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
Petitioners-appellees filed a petition in the Court of First Instance of Cebu, docketed as Civil Case No. 1555-R, praying for an order directing the Civil Registrar of Cebu City to correct the entries in the birth record (Registry No. 5773) of the child Yap Bee Ling. They alleged that the true names should be recorded as follows: the father as YAP KENG HUE (instead of Yap King Hue), the mother as SALVADORA ONG alias PECK SUAN (instead of Peck Suan Ong), and the child as YAP BEE LING alias MARY. They claimed that before the preparation of the birth certificate (Exhibit “C”), the father presented his alien certificate (Exhibit “E”) and the mother’s alien certificate (Exhibit “D”) to the attending physician, Dra. Gloria Cura Bacay, with a request to record those specific names. After a hearing, the lower court granted the petition and ordered the corrections. The Republic of the Philippines appealed.
ISSUE
1. Whether the lower court erred in entertaining, under a petition for change of names, what was essentially a petition for the use of aliases.
2. Whether the lower court erred in ordering the correction of the birth certificate of Yap Bee Ling.
RULING
The Supreme Court REVERSED the decision of the lower court.
1. The petition was improperly entertained as one for change or correction of names. The evidence did not establish that an error or mistake was committed in the preparation of the birth certificate (Exhibit “C”) or in its transcription into the civil registry. Dra. Bacay, the physician who prepared the birth certificate, testified that the data in Exhibit “C” were correct and that she had never seen Exhibits “D” and “E” prior to its preparation. This testimony refuted the petitioners’ claim of incorrectness. The entry in the civil registry for the child’s name, “Yap Bee Ling,” tallied exactly with the birth certificate and was therefore not incorrect.
2. The omission of the alias “Mary” in the civil registry was not due to an error or mistake, as this alias did not appear in the original birth certificate. While the registered name might be incomplete (lacking the alias), such incompleteness is not a sufficient ground to authorize the correction sought. If the petitioners’ true desire was to secure authority for the child to use the alias “Mary,” this should have been clearly stated and substantiated in the petition, which the records failed to show. Consequently, there was no legal basis for granting the petition. Costs were imposed on the petitioners-appellees.