G.R. No. 177728, July 31, 2009
FACTS:
Jenie was denied the registration of her child's birth because the document attached to the Affidavit to use the Surname of the Father (AUSF) entitled "Autobiography," did not include the signature of the deceased father, and “because he was born out of wedlock and the father unfortunately died prior to his birth and has no more capacity to acknowledge his paternity to the child.”
Jenie and the child promptly filed a complaint for
injunction/registration of name against Gracia. The trial court held that even
if Dominique, the father, was the author of the unsigned handwritten
Autobiography, the same does not contain any express recognition of paternity.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the unsigned handwritten instrument of the deceased father of minor Christian can be considered as a recognition of paternity.
RULING:
Yes.
Article 176 of the Family Code, as amended by RA 9255, permits an illegitimate child to use the surname of his/her father if the latter had previously recognized him/her as his offspring through an admission made in a pubic of private handwritten instrument.
Article 176, as amended, does not explicitly state that there must be a signature by the putative father in the private handwritten instrument.
The following rules respecting the requirement of affixing
the signature of the acknowledging parent in any private handwritten instrument
wherein an admission of filiation of a legitimate or illegitimate child is
made:
1) Where the
private handwritten instrument is the lone piece of evidence submitted to prove
filiation, there should be strict compliance with the requirement that the same
must be signed by the acknowledging parent; and
2) Where the
private handwritten instrument is accompanied by other relevant and competent
evidence, it suffices that the claim of filiation therein be shown to have been
made and handwritten by the acknowledging parent as it is merely corroborative
of such other evidence.
