JENIE SAN JUAN DELA CRUZ, et al. v. RONALD PAUL S. GARCIA, in his capacity as City Civil Registrar of Antipolo City
594 SCRA 648, (2009)
The requirement that the private handwritten instrument be signed by the acknowledging parent must be strictly complied with it the same is the lone evidence to prove filiation.
Jenie dela Cruz and Dominique Aquino lived together as husband and wife. Two months after Dominique‘s death, Jenie gave birth to a child. Jenie applied for registration of the child‘s birth, using Dominique‘s surname Aquino, with the Office of the City Civil Registrar. She attached to the Affidavits a document entitled ―”AUTOBIOGRAPHY” – a handwritten document by Dominique which states that he and Jenie ―”fell in love with each other, then we became good couples. And as of now she is pregnant and for that we live together in our house now.”
The City Civil Registrar denied Jenie‘s application, holding that the child cannot use the surname of his father because he was born out of wedlock and the father unfortunately died prior to his birth. Jenie filed a complaint with the Regional Trial Court, which dismissed the complaint on the ground that the autobiography was unsigned and it does not contain any express recognition of paternity.
Hence, this Petition for Review on Certiorari.
ISSUES:
Whether or not the Autobiography, a private unsigned handwritten document, can be considered as a recognition of paternity
HELD:
Article 176 of the Family Code, as amended, does not, indeed, explicitly state that the private handwritten instrument acknowledging the child‘s paternity must be signed by the putative father. This provision must, however, be read in conjunction with related provisions of the Family Code which require that recognition by the father must bear his signature.
That a father who acknowledges paternity of a child through a written instrument must affix his signature thereon is clearly implied in Article 176 of the Family Code. Paragraph 2.2, Rule 2 of A.O. No. 1, Series of 2004, merely articulated such requirement; it did not ―unduly expand‖ the import of Article 176 as claimed by petitioners.
In the present case, however, special circumstances exist to hold that Dominique‘s Autobiography, though unsigned by him, substantially satisfies the requirement of the law.
First, Dominique died about two months prior to the child‘s birth. Second, the relevant matters in the Autobiography, unquestionably handwritten by Dominique, correspond to the facts culled from the testimonial evidence Jenie proffered. Third, Jenie‘s testimony is corroborated by the Affidavit of Acknowledgment of Dominique‘s father Domingo Aquino and testimony of his brother Joseph Butch Aquino whose hereditary rights could be affected by the registration of the questioned recognition of the child. These circumstances indicating Dominique‘s paternity of the child give life to his statements in his Autobiography that ―”JENIE DELA CRUZ is ―MY WIFE” as ―”WE FELL IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER “and ―”NOW SHE IS PREGNANT AND FOR THAT WE LIVE TOGETHER.”
In the case at bar, there is no dispute that the earlier quoted statements in Dominique‘s Autobiography have been made and written by him. Taken together with the other relevant facts extant herein – that Dominique, during his lifetime, and Jenie were living together as common-law spouses for several months in 2005 at his parents‘ house in Pulang-lupa, Dulumbayan, Teresa, Rizal; she was pregnant when Dominique died on September 4, 2005; and about two months after his death, Jenie gave birth to the child – they sufficiently establish that the child of Jenie is Dominique‘s.
In view of the pronouncements herein made, the Court sees it fit to adopt 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.
Our laws instruct that the welfare of the child shall be the ―”paramount consideration” in resolving questions affecting him. Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child of which the Philippines is a signatory is similarly emphatic.
