EN BANC
[G.R. No. L-26982. May 8, 1969.]
ROSALINDA MATIAS, Petitioner-Appellee, v. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Oppositor-Appellant.
Pedro T. Santos, Jr., for Petitioner-Appellee.
Solicitor General Arturo A. Alafriz, Assistant Solicitor General Antonio G. Ibarra and Solicitor Norberto P. Eduardo for Oppositor-Appellant.
SYLLABUS
1. CIVIL LAW; CIVIL REGISTRY; RECORD OF BIRTH; SUPPLYING A NAME LEFT BLANK IN THE ORIGINAL RECORDING OF BIRTH MAY BE DONE BY JUDICIAL ORDER AFTER HEARING. — The name of a newly born child need not be made to appear at the time the birth is entered in the record of the Civil Register but may be subsequently inserted. And if the name may be recorded subsequently on the strength of a supplemental report, there is no reason why the same may not be done upon a judicial order, issued after proper hearing.
2. ID.; ID.; ID.; MATERIAL AMENDMENT THEREOF; RULE. — Material corrections or amendments in the record of birth by virtue of a judgment against the Civil Registrar are prohibited only if the action is summary in nature.
2. ID.; ID.; ID.; MATERIAL AMENDMENT THEREOF; RULE. — Material corrections or amendments in the record of birth by virtue of a judgment against the Civil Registrar are prohibited only if the action is summary in nature.
D E C I S I O N
REYES, J.B.L., J.:
Appeal by the State from a decision of the Court of First Instance of Rizal, dated 14 August 1961, directing the Civil Registrar of Malabon, Rizal, to insert the name of the petitioner in the opposite space left blank in the certificate of birth.
Petitioner had filed in the court of first instance above named a petition averring that she was born in Malabon, Rizal, on 28 February 1941; that when she needed a copy of her birth certificate no connection with her designation as exchange student it was discovered that in her birth certificate the space destined from he name of the child being registered had been left blank; that the particulars stated in the certificate, such as date, time and place of birth, names and domicile of parents, etc., corresponded with her own. Wherefore, she prayed that, after hearing, the court direct the insertion of her name in the corresponding blank in the birth certificate records of the Civil Registrar of Malabon.
Her petition, by direction of the court, was published by posting copies thereof in the provincial capitol building in Pasig as well as in the municipal building of Malabon for at least two weeks, and by service of the same upon the Solicitor General and the Civil Registrar of Malabon, Rizal.
In due time, the officers last named opposed the granting of the petition on the ground that a petition for correction of entries in the Civil Register under Article 412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines could only refer to clerical errors, and that the amendment sought by the petitioner was not of this kind, and could not be granted by the court.
At the hearing, the petitioner presented the testimony of the nurse midwife who attended her birth on the date stated in the birth certificate; and said nurse attested to petitioner’s identity with the child referred to in the birth certificate and affirmed to the court that the lack of name was due to omission by oversight. The nurse was corroborated by petitioner’s father. Her baptismal certificate, giving her name as Rosalinda Matias, coinciding with the recorded certificate of birth as to date of birth and parentage of the child, was, likewise, introduced and admitted in evidence.
The court of first instance granted the petition on 14 August 1961, and the Solicitor General duly appealed. Without questioning the probative value of petitioner’s evidence, the State insists that the correction sought is not allowable under the law and jurisprudence on the subject.
We believe the appeal to be untenable. From the official certificate of birth itself (Exhibit "A"), it appears that the name of a newly born child need not be made to appear at the time the birth is entered in the record of the Civil Register but may be subsequently inserted. In fact, the birth certificate itself, after the blank provided for the name of the new-born child, recites the following instruction:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"If the child is not yet named make a supplemental report as directed."cralaw virtua1aw library
"Si al recién nacido no se la ha puesto nombre todavia enviese un report suplementario seg
Petitioner had filed in the court of first instance above named a petition averring that she was born in Malabon, Rizal, on 28 February 1941; that when she needed a copy of her birth certificate no connection with her designation as exchange student it was discovered that in her birth certificate the space destined from he name of the child being registered had been left blank; that the particulars stated in the certificate, such as date, time and place of birth, names and domicile of parents, etc., corresponded with her own. Wherefore, she prayed that, after hearing, the court direct the insertion of her name in the corresponding blank in the birth certificate records of the Civil Registrar of Malabon.
Her petition, by direction of the court, was published by posting copies thereof in the provincial capitol building in Pasig as well as in the municipal building of Malabon for at least two weeks, and by service of the same upon the Solicitor General and the Civil Registrar of Malabon, Rizal.
In due time, the officers last named opposed the granting of the petition on the ground that a petition for correction of entries in the Civil Register under Article 412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines could only refer to clerical errors, and that the amendment sought by the petitioner was not of this kind, and could not be granted by the court.
At the hearing, the petitioner presented the testimony of the nurse midwife who attended her birth on the date stated in the birth certificate; and said nurse attested to petitioner’s identity with the child referred to in the birth certificate and affirmed to the court that the lack of name was due to omission by oversight. The nurse was corroborated by petitioner’s father. Her baptismal certificate, giving her name as Rosalinda Matias, coinciding with the recorded certificate of birth as to date of birth and parentage of the child, was, likewise, introduced and admitted in evidence.
The court of first instance granted the petition on 14 August 1961, and the Solicitor General duly appealed. Without questioning the probative value of petitioner’s evidence, the State insists that the correction sought is not allowable under the law and jurisprudence on the subject.
We believe the appeal to be untenable. From the official certificate of birth itself (Exhibit "A"), it appears that the name of a newly born child need not be made to appear at the time the birth is entered in the record of the Civil Register but may be subsequently inserted. In fact, the birth certificate itself, after the blank provided for the name of the new-born child, recites the following instruction:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"If the child is not yet named make a supplemental report as directed."cralaw virtua1aw library
"Si al recién nacido no se la ha puesto nombre todavia enviese un report suplementario seg
