GR L 33724; (November, 1982) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-33724 November 29, 1982
ELIGIA BATBATAN, petitioner-appellant, vs. OFFICE OF THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF PAGADIAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR, respondent-appellee.
FACTS
Petitioner Eligia Batbatan sought the correction of her minor children’s birth certificates to drop the surnames “Ang” and “Luy,” which were derived from their father, Ang Kiu Chuy. The children, Jorge and Delia, were born out of a common-law relationship while their father was married to another woman, making them illegitimate. Their birth certificates already reflected their illegitimacy. The petitioner, who had supplied the original information for the records, wanted the children to bear only her surname, “Batbatan,” in compliance with the Civil Code.
The trial court denied the petition, ruling that the corrections sought were not merely clerical but substantial, as they would alter the children’s surnames. It held that such changes must be threshed out in an appropriate proceeding, not through a summary correction under Article 412 of the Civil Code and Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. The court cited precedents disallowing corrections that change status or citizenship.
ISSUE
Whether the petition for correction of entries to drop the father’s surnames from the birth certificates of illegitimate children involves a substantial change requiring an adversarial proceeding.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the trial court, granting the petition. The legal logic is that the correction sought is clerical and does not effect a substantial change in status, citizenship, or filiation. The children’s illegitimacy was already established in the birth records. The error was in the entries themselves, which contravened Article 363 of the Civil Code, mandating that illegitimate children shall bear the mother’s surname.
The Court distinguished between clerical errors, which involve mistakes in writing contrary to existing facts or law, and substantial alterations. Here, removing the unauthorized paternal surnames merely aligns the records with statutory law, without changing the children’s illegitimate status. The summary procedure under Rule 108 is appropriate, as justice and equity dictate compliance with the Civil Code. The correction ensures the records reflect the legal reality that spurious children should carry only the maternal surname.