Atty. Errol J. Dobrea, ECE

Atty. Errol J. Dobrea, ECE Professional account of Atty. Errol J. Dobrea, ECE. For appointments and consultation, all my contact details at https://attyejdobrea.info

22/04/2026

24 likes. "Highlights of the Regional Consultations on the Unified Legal Aid Service (ULAS) Rules."

08/04/2026

Sa sesyon ng En Banc ng ngayong Miyerkules, ika-8 ng Abril 2026, naglabas ito ng writ of kalikasan laban sa Halrey Construction, Inc. at iba pang mga taong kumikilos para sa kanila, dahil sa pagsasagawa ng ilegal na quarrying sa loob ng Angat River-Bustos Dam Forest Reserve sa Banaban, Angat, Bulacan.

Sa ponencia ni Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, pinagbigyan ng Korte Suprema ang hiling ni petitioner Narciso A. De Leon para sa isang pansamantalang environmental protection order na nag-uutos sa mga respondent na agad itigil ang quarrying, paghuhukay, pagkuha ng lupa, o katulad na mga gawain sa loob ng watershed area. Ipinagbabawal din sa kanila ang paggawa ng anumang kilos na maaaring magdulot ng karagdagang pinsala sa kapaligiran.

Sa pag-isyu ng writ, inilapat ng Korte Suprema ang precautionary principle batay sa mga teknikal na natuklasan na nagpapakita na malaki ang naidulot ng mga gawain ng mga respondent sa pagtaas sa surface runoff, erosion, at sedimentation sa loob ng watershed system. Ayon sa mga ulat, sinira ng mga gawaing ito ang mga pananim, halaman, at mga punong namumunga na nagsisilbing tirahan ng mga hayop.

Binigyang-pansin din ng Korte Suprema na ang pagbabago sa likas na anyo ng kahit isang bahagi lamang ng isang protektadong forest reserve ay nagbabanta sa katatagan ng watershed ng Angat River-Bustos Dam at nagdudulot ng malubhang panganib sa buhay, kalusugan, at ari-arian ng mga naninirahan sa ilang lalawigan.

Idineklara bilang protektadong kagubatan ang Angat River-Bustos Dam Forest Reserve sa ilalim ng Proclamation No. 573.

Basahin ang press briefer sa https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=162980.

Sumunod sa Credit Attribution Policy ng SC PIO: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/.


28/03/2026

๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐—ก๐—ข๐—ง๐—œ๐—–๐—˜: ๐—”๐—น๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐— ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐Ÿญ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—น ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) informs the public that starting 1 April 2026, all complaints handled by the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) must be submitted through the SEC iMessage portal.

This system helps prevent duplicate submissions, reduces fraudulent or malicious complaints, and allows better tracking of case status and communication with complainants.

Submit your complaint at: https://imessage.sec.gov.ph

For assistance, visit www.sec.gov.ph or call 1-4SEC (1-4732).

๐Ÿ”— Read the notice here: https://www.sec.gov.ph/notices-2026/public-notice-eipd-sec-imessage/

โ–ถ๏ธSpecial Rules for Micro & Small Individual Business Taxpayersโ—€๏ธโœ… May use any of the individual AITR forms (1701-MS, 17...
17/03/2026

โ–ถ๏ธSpecial Rules for Micro & Small Individual Business Taxpayersโ—€๏ธ

โœ… May use any of the individual AITR forms (1701-MS, 1701, or 1701A) regardless of what is written on their COR (Form 2303).
1701-MS โ€“ still manual only (not yet in eFPS or eBIRForms).
โœ… Download from BIR website or request from RDO โ†’ print 3 copies.
โœ… Payment: over-the-counter at any AAB.
โœ… They may choose to file electronically using 1701 or 1701A (minimum fields only โ€“ see Annex โ€œDโ€).
โœ… Once 1701/1701A is electronically filed & paid, no need to file 1701-MS manually.
โœ… No penalty for wrong venue or for using 1701-MS.
โœ… No need to update COR to add โ€œ1701-MSโ€.

The enactment of Republic Act No. 12010, also known as the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (โ€œAFASAโ€), is a radical s...
16/03/2026

The enactment of Republic Act No. 12010, also known as the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (โ€œAFASAโ€), is a radical step forward in this countryโ€™s commitment to protecting consumers, deterring fraudsters, and fostering a more inclusive and resilient financial system. The implementing regulations, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Circular Nos. 1213, 1214, and 1215, Series of 2025, provide a comprehensive framework for the exercise of the BSPโ€™s mandates and translate AFASAโ€™s aspirations into actionable rules and policies for BSP-supervised institutions (โ€œBSIsโ€), consumers, and the public. These rules work in tandem to (1) prevent, detect, and delay fraudulent transactions, (2) enhance the ability of fraud victims and BSIs to trace, hold, verify, and recover disputed funds, and (3) provide an expedited procedure for accessing and sharing financial account information for law enforcement purposes.

END OF SMS OTPs

LOOK: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will require banks in the Philippines to phase out SMS OTPs (One-Time Passwords) starting from June 30 in accordance with the implementation of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).

This measure, which seeks to prevent phishing, SIM-swapping, and text-hijacking scams, mandates that banks implement more advanced authentication methods, including biometrics, in-app OTPs or push notifications, behavioral biometrics (such as typing patterns or device movements), and silent authentication through telecommunications networks. | ๐Ÿ“ธ: Digital Banks/ Facebook via Rajzaiken Anda, INQUIRER.net trainee

Story soon on business.inquirer.net.

Source: The Manila Times
04/03/2026

Source: The Manila Times

Payment in coins exceeding P2,000.00 is not allowed

27/02/2026

On March 3, 2026, the (SC), led by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, will formally launch Phase 1 of the ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜š๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ (๐˜œ๐˜“๐˜ˆ๐˜š) ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ, a centralized digital platform that will streamline how lawyers report and monitor compliance with the mandatory delivery of ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ legal aid services to underprivileged and indigent Filipinos.

The launch will be held at the SC ๐˜Œ๐˜ฏ ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค Session Hall at 1 PM.

In the same event, the ULAS Office (ULASO) will also hold an Inter-agency Partnership Ceremony and sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Anti-Poverty Commission, Commission on Human Rights, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor. These agencies will coordinate with ULASO in identifying and referring individuals who may be qualified beneficiaries of free legal services.

The Launch will be livestreamed on the SCโ€™s official social media accounts. Lawyers are encouraged to join online, as the program will feature instructional videos on how to navigate the Portal, along with insights and best practices from lawyers on how to comply effectively with the ULAS requirement.

The public is also invited to view the livestreamed Launch to learn how qualified beneficiaries can access the free legal services available through ULAS.

Under the ๐˜œ๐˜“๐˜ˆ๐˜š ๐˜™๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, covered lawyers must render at least 60 hours of legal aid services every three years to individuals who cannot afford adequate legal representation.

For more information on ULAS, visit the ULAS Microsite at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/ulas/.

Read more at: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=161202

10/02/2026

The (SC) has ruled that same-sex couples who live together may be recognized as co-owners of property under Article 148 of the ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ, provided there is proof of actual contribution.

In a Decision written by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, the SCโ€™s Second Division granted a womanโ€™s complaint for partition of property and recognized her as a co-owner of the house and lot she shared with her same-sex partner.

Article 148 of the ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ governs the property relations of couples who are living together but cannot legally marry, acknowledging co-ownership based on their actual contributions.

The two women lived together as a couple. A year into their relationship, they purchased a house and lot, and agreed to register the property in one partnerโ€™s name to facilitate banking transactions.

Upon separation, they agreed to sell the property and divide the proceeds equally. One partner signed an ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต stating that the other had paid about 50% of the purchase and renovation costs.

However, she later refused to sell the property and denied that her former partner was a co-owner.

To protect her interest, the former partner annotated an adverse claim on the title and demanded partition of the property. When this failed, she filed a case for partition of real estate and damages, relying on the ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต as proof of co-ownership.

The SC granted the complaint for partition of real estate, as it clarified the provisions in the ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ governing the property relations of unmarried couples living together.

Article 147 applies to unmarried couples who may legally marry. Property acquired during their cohabitation is presumed jointly owned.

Article 148, on the other hand, applies to couples who are not permitted to marry. Only properties obtained through actual contribution are considered common property.

Since the ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ only allows marriage between a man and a woman, the SC held that same-sex couples necessarily fall under Article 148.

Here, the SC found that the signed ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต, where one partner admitted that the other paid about half of the property costs, was a binding admission and sufficient proof of actual contribution. This established co-ownership.

Read the full text of the press release at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=160462.

Read the full text of the Decision at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=160431.

Read the Concurring Opinion of Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=160444.

Read the Concurrence of Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier at https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/?p=160439.

Copying of this content is subject to the SC PIOโ€™s Credit Attribution Policy: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/.

08/02/2026

Surname of married woman's lover was used in the love child's birth certificate: Can the woman, who's separated in fact from her husband, have the child's surname changed to her maiden surname? | Articles 164 and 167 of the Family Code | Supreme Court decision in "Ordoรฑa vs. Pasig City Local Civil Registrar" (2021) | House Bill No. 7348 (20th Congress) filed by Rep. Sun J. Shimura of Cebu's 4th congressional district seeks to amend Article 167 of the Family Code by giving a mother the right to impugn โ€” challenge or question โ€” her child's legitimacy (in simpler terms, with the proposed amendment, a mother can declare that her child is illegitimate).

๐—ข๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„:

๐—”. ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฐ, ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ต (๐Ÿญ) ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€: "Children conceived or born during the marriage of the parents are legitimate."

In the 2005 "Gerardo Concepcion vs. Court of Appeals and Ma. Theresa Almonte" case, Gerardo filed a petition for declaration of nullity of his marriage to Theresa on the ground that their marriage was bigamous. Ma. Theresa was already married to a certain Mario when they got married (and Mario was still alive and living in Quezon City). As a result, the Regional Trial Court declared their son Jose Gerardo to be an illegitimate child. When the court denied her motion to have Jose Gerardo's surname changed to her maiden surname, Ma. Theresa brought the case up to the Court of Appeals.

Ma. Theresa and Gerardo were shocked when the Court of Appeals ruled that, legally, Jose Gerardo was not their son but the son of Ma. Theresa and Mario (the first husband). The Court of Appeals ruling, later on affirmed by the Supreme Court, declared that every presumption must be in favor of legitimacy. You can read the full text of this case @ https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2005/aug2005/gr_123450_2005.html

๐—•. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฐ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ. It may be disputed based on the grounds and manner provided under Articles 166, 170, and 171.

๐—–. ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€: "The child shall be considered legitimate although the mother may have declared against its legitimacy or may have been sentenced as an adulteress."

๐——. ๐—œ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ "๐—ข๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ผรฑ๐—ฎ ๐˜ƒ๐˜€. ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด ๐—–๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—Ÿ๐—–๐—ฅ (๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿญ)" ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†. While working in UAE, she entered into a relationship with a man, with whom she later had a son. On the birth certificate, her son's surname is that of her lover's surname, instead of her husband's surname. Claiming that her son is illegitimate, she filed a petition under Rule 108 "Cancellation or Correction of Entries in the Civil Registry" to have her son's surname on the birth certificate changed from her lover's surname to her maiden surname.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป'๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฐ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ. The Court said that it's only the husband or, in exceptional cases, his heirs who can impugn (challenge or question) her son's legitimacy. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ "๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ [๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป] ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ [๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ] ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด, ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฎ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€, ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—บ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜„."

The Court addressed to Congress and the Senate the "absence of a remedy in favor of a mother in establishing the true filiation of her child."

๐—˜. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ. ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ป ๐—. ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—–๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜‚'๐˜€ ๐Ÿฐ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ก๐—ผ. ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿด, ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฎ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ป (๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป) ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ'๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜†. In simpler terms, with the proposed amendment, a mother can declare that her child is illegitimate.

๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€:

๐—”. You can read the full text of "Ordoรฑa vs. Pasig City LCR (2021)" @ https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2021/nov2021/gr_215370_2021.html

Richelle Busque Ordoรฑa (Richelle) was married to a certain Ariel O. Libut (Ariel) on October 10, 2000 in Las Piรฑas City. ๐—œ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿด ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ค๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐˜‚๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ.

Richelle then worked in UAE where she met Allan D. Fulgueras (Allan), her former colleague in Qatar. She and Allan engaged in an intimate relationship, which resulted in her pregnancy. She went back to the Philippines sometime in 2009 and in early 2010 gave birth to a son in a hospital in Pasig City. ๐—œ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ "๐—”๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น ๐—ข๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ผรฑ๐—ฎ ๐—™๐˜‚๐—น๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€โ€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต "๐—”๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐——๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—™๐˜‚๐—น๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€" ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

๐—•. ๐—œ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ, ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿด "๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—˜๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—น ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜†" ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€:

(1) change of last name of Alrich Paul in Item 1 from "Fulgueras" to "Ordoรฑa," her maiden name; and

(2) deletion of entries in the paternal information in Item Nos. 13 to 17.

๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—”๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜/๐—”๐—ฑ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต (๐—”๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜) ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—”๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—”๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น.

๐—–. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜'๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด

๐—œ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ง๐—– ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ. Highlights of the RTC's ruling:

(๐Ÿญ) Alrich Paul is an illegitimate child considering that he was conceived and born outside a valid marriage. "Per his Certificate of Live Birth, his mother is petitioner [Richelle] married to Ariel, but his alleged father is Allan."

(๐Ÿฎ) Under Article 176 of the Family Code, as amended by Republic Act 9255, "illegitimate children shall use the surname and be under the parental authority of their mother, and shall be entitled to support in conformity with the Family Code; however, illegitimate children may use the surname of their father if their filiation has been expressly recognized by the father through the record of birth appearing in the civil register, or when an admission in a public document or private handwritten instrument is made by the father."

(๐Ÿฏ) "Thus, [Richelle] wanted to delete the entries in Item Nos. 13 to 17 in Alrich Paul's Certificate of Live Birth to do away with an embarrassing situation when he comes of age and attends school where he can be the object of ridicule and discriminatory remarks from his peers."

"๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ถ๐—น๐—น, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ง๐—– ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ. ๐—œ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—œ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜€. ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฏ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿณ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐—”๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น; ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—”๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐—ต๐—ฒ, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜, ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ; that the intended correction was only for the convenience of [Richelle], who is legally married to Ariel, but gave birth to Alrich Paul whose alleged father is Allan; and that the legitime of Alrich Paul might be affected if Item Nos. 13 to 17 were to be deleted." [Boldfacing supplied]

After the RTC denied her Motion for Reconsideration, Richelle appealed to the Court of Appeals.

๐——. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€' ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด:

๐—œ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ, ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฐ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ. ๐—”๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ, ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ง๐—–'๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—”๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ.

"The CA explained that under Article 164 of the Family Code, 'children conceived or born during the marriage of the parents are legitimate.' It then noted that when Alrich Paul was born, [Richelle] was still married to Ariel.

"๐—ช๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—” ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ [๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ'๐˜€] ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—”๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ, ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น, ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น, ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ '๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€.' Thus, contrary to what the RTC declared, it ruled that Alrich Paul cannot be deemed the illegitimate child of [Richelle] and Allan based solely on [Richelle's] admission; that the law requires that every reasonable presumption be made in favor of legitimacy; and that the status and filiation of the child cannot be compromised." [Boldfacing supplied]

"The CA further explained that the law sets who may dispute the legitimate status of the child, and that specifically, impugning the legitimacy of a child is a strictly personal right of the husband, or in exceptional cases, his heirs."

"The CA added that it was not for the RTC to rule on the matter: should Ariel or his heirs file an action impugning the status of Alrich Paul as a legitimate child of Ariel, it should be threshed out in a different proceeding. It explained that the well settled rule is that the issue of legitimacy cannot be attacked collaterally.

"Thus, the CA declared that the presumption that Alrich Paul is the legitimate child of the legal and subsisting marriage between petitioner and Ariel stands."

After the Court of Appeals denied her Motion for Reconsideration, Richelle appealed to the Supreme Court.

๐—˜. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜'๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด:

(๐Ÿญ) ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น, ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต "๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต."

[Note: In simple terms, Rule 108 is not the proper remedy that Richelle should have taken since she was actually questioning her son's legitimacy.]

"Article 164 of the Family Code provides that 'children conceived or born during the marriage of the parties are legitimate.' Here, [Richelle] admitted to being in a valid and subsisting marriage with Ariel when she conceived and gave birth to Alrich Paul. Thus, Alrich Paul is presumed to be a legitimate child of petitioner and Ariel. However, looking at the Rule 108 petition in this case, [Richelle], mother of Alrich Paul, in effect declared against her child's legitimacy when she alleged that Alrich Paul was the child of Allan.

"Following the pronouncement in Miller, [Richelle's] collateral attack of Alrich Paul's filiation cannot be allowed in a Rule 108 proceeding. Thus, on this ground alone, the RTC should have dismissed the Rule 108 petition."

(๐Ÿฎ) ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ป (๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป) ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ'๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ.

"Still, the rule is that the mother is barred from impugning or declaring against the legitimacy of her child, and only the father, or in exceptional instances, his heirs, can contest in an appropriate action the legitimacy of a child born to his wife based on any of the grounds enumerated under Article 166 of the Family Code."

"Here, [Richelle's] declaration in the birth certificate and in the Rule 108 petition that Alrich Paul is illegitimate cannot be countenanced as it runs counter to Article 167 of the Family Code. The presumption that Alrich Paul is legitimate stands in the absence of a direct action timely filed by the proper party."

(๐Ÿฏ) ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ.

"The hands of the Court are tied as it may only entertain the impugnation of a child's presumed legitimacy in a direct action filed by the proper party and within the prescribed period under the law.

"In light of these, the Court finds the present case as an opportune moment to highlight the absence of a remedy in favor of a mother in establishing the true filiation of her child. Ultimately, the Court's observations are directed to the Legislature inasmuch as the Court is careful not to tread on the realm of judicial legislation."

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ก๐—ผ. ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿด (๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐˜๐—ต ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€) ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ป (๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป) ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ'๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜†

Rep. Sun J. Shimura of Cebu's 4th congressional district filed House Bill No. 7348 on January 26, 2025; you can download it fromhttps://docs.congress.hrep.online/legisdocs/basic_20/HB07348.pdf

๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ก๐—ผ. ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿด, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜€ (boldfacing supplied):

"Art. 167. Legitimate children may impugn the legitimacy of their filiation only upon reaching the age of majority, and solely on the grounds and in the manner prescribed by law.

"In addition, the following may likewise impugn the legitimacy of a child in the cases and in the manner authorized by law:

"(a) The husband, in accordance with Articles 166, 170, and 171 of this Code; and

"(๐—ฏ) ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ/๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜„ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—น ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ, ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜†, ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น, ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐——๐—ก๐—” ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด.

"๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿญ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ, ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€."

๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ:

You can read the full text of Articles 164, 167, and related articles of the Family Code @ https://familymatters.netlify.app/family%20code/fc%20title%20vi%20paternity%20and%20filiation

02/02/2026
30/01/2026

๐‚๐€๐‹๐„๐๐ƒ๐€๐‘ ๐Ž๐… ๐€๐‚๐“๐ˆ๐•๐ˆ๐“๐ˆ๐„๐’ ๐ˆ๐ ๐‚๐Ž๐๐๐„๐‚๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐ ๐–๐ˆ๐“๐‡ ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐๐Ž๐•๐„๐Œ๐๐„๐‘ ๐Ÿ, ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐๐€๐‘๐€๐๐†๐€๐˜ ๐€๐๐ƒ ๐’๐€๐๐†๐†๐”๐๐ˆ๐€๐๐† ๐Š๐€๐๐€๐“๐€๐€๐ ๐„๐‹๐„๐‚๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐๐’

๐Ÿ“… October 20, 2025 - May 18, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Voter Registration Period (Nationwide except BARMM)

๐Ÿ“… February 9 - March 31, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Voter Registration Period in BARMM

๐Ÿ“… September 28 - October 5, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Filing of Certificates of Candidacy

๐Ÿ“… September 28 - October 21, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Campaigning is Prohibited

๐Ÿ“… October 3 - November 9, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Election Period
๐Ÿ‘‰Gun Ban

๐Ÿ“… October 22-31, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Campaign Period

๐Ÿ“… November 1, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Eve of Election Day
๐Ÿ‘‰Liquor Ban
๐Ÿ‘‰Campaigning is Prohibited

๐Ÿ“… November 2, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰ELECTION DAY
๐Ÿ‘‰Liquor Ban
๐Ÿ‘‰Campaigning is Prohibited

๐Ÿ“… December 2, 2026
๐Ÿ‘‰Last Day to File Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE)

โ—๏ธPAALALA: Suspended ang voter registration sa Antipolo City, Rizal mula January 19 - March 22, 2026 upang magbigay-daan sa mga aktibidad kaugnay ng isasagawang March 14, 2026 Special Elections sa 2nd Legislative District ng Antipolo City.

References:
COMELEC Resolution No. 11177:https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2025BSKE/Resolutions/com_res_11177.pdf
COMELEC Resolution No. 11191:https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2025BSKE/Resolutions/com_res_11191.pdf



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