JAIME LIM, MINOR, REPRESENT­ED BY HIS MOTHER, TARCIANA RODRIGUEZ, PETITIONER-APPELLANT, VS. LOCAL REGISTRAR OF MANILA AND LIM SUI KIAN, RESPONDENTS-APPELLEES.

Appeal, from an order of the Court of First
Instance of Manila dismissing this case, without prejudice and without
pronouncement as to costs.

This is a petition for correction of an alleged error, in the
records of the Local Civil Registrar for the City of Manila,
concerning petitioner Jaime Lim, represented by his alleged mother, Tarciana Rodriguez. 
It is alleged in the petition, filed on September 2, 1963, that
petitioner was born on September 7, 1953; that his parents are Lim Sui Kian, Chinese, and Tarciana Rodri­guez, Filipino; that petitioner’s aforesaid
parents “were not mar­ried to each other” at the time of his
(petitioner’s) birth; that they remain “unmarried up to the present;”
that, according to the aforementioned records, petitioner’s full name is
“Jaime Lim,” his nationality “Filipino” and his status,
“Legitimate;” that, his true name is “Jaime Rodriguez”
and his status “illegitimate;” and that, unless the errors thus
allegedly committed “are pro­perly corrected, the status of Minor Jaime
Lim as Filipino citi­zen and an illegitimate child will cause legal
doubt and great in­convenience in his official and private dealings to the
prejudice of his rights and interest as a member of our citizenry.”
Accordingly, it is prayed that said entries in the Local Civil Re­gister be
corrected, so as to state that petitioner’s true name is “Jaime
Rodriguez,” instead of “Jaime Lim,” and his status
“illegitimate,” instead of “legitimate.” On July 14, 1964, the petition was
amended, by eliminating therefrom, any reference to
petitioner’s father.

The manifest purpose of the petition is to make it appear that
petitioner is an illegitimate child of a Filipina, Tarciana
Ro­driguez – not the legitimate son of Lim Sui
Kian and Tarciana
Rodriguez, as now set forth in the records of the local civil registrar – with
a view to bolstering up his claim to Filipino nationality, following that
of his Filipino mother, instead of that of his Chinese father, Lim Sui Kian.  It is well settled, how­ever, that Article
412 of our Civil Code, upon which petitioner herein relies, contemplates a
summary proceeding, involving the correction of clerical errors, of a harmless
and innocuous nature, not changes involving civil status, nationality or Citi­zenship,
which are substantial and/or controversial, or a change of name (Ty Kong Tin vs. Republic, 94 Phil. 321; An­saldo
vs. Republic, L-10225, February, 1958, Alfonso Tan Su vs. Republic, L-12140,
April 29, 1959; Chomi vs. Local Civil Registrar of
Manila, 99 Phil. 1004; and Andrew Black vs. Republic, L-10226, February 14,
1958, 56 O. G. 4752).  Hence, the
petition herein was properly dismissed by the lower court, although there
appears to be no reason for making the dismissal “without prejudice.”

WHEREFORE, with the elimination of the qualification
“without prejudice,” the order appealed from is hereby affirmed and,
since the present appeal is manifestly devoid of merit and contrary to the
established jurisprudence, treble costs are hereby imposed, jointly and
severally, upon petitioner-appellant an his counsel, Atty. Joaquin G. Chung,
Jr.  Moreover, let a certified copy of
this decision be attached to the personal record of the latter, as a member of
the Philippine bar.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar, Sanchez, Ruiz Castro, Angeles, and Fernando, JJ., concur.