G.R. No. L-14823. December 28, 1961
IN RE: CORRECTION OF ENTRIES IN THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF QUEZON CITY, ANACLETA BARILLO, PETITIONER AND APPELLANT, VS. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, OPPOSITOR AND APPELLEE.
PADILLA, J.:
Instance of Rizal, Branch V, Quezon City, the petitioner Anacleta
Barillo claims and alleges that she has been known by the nickname
“Etang”; that on 27 December 1937 at the Independent Church in
Sampaloc, Manila, she was married to Ngan Hu, by whom she begot four
children, namely, Leticia, Julieta, Arturo and Araceli, all surnamed
Gan; and that by usage, response and tolerance to the appellation
“Etang” her friends, neighbors and distant relatives had mistaken her
name to be Vicenta, appearing in the birth certificates of her
children, instead of Anacleta Barillo, her true and real name,
appearing in her marriage contract and alien certificate of
registration; and prays that the name Vicenta be corrected and changed
to Anacleta in the aforesaid birth certificates of her children and in
“any and all other public or private entries or records that may exist
bearing the name of ‘Vicenta Barillo.'” On 25 July, the Court ordered
the publication in the Manila Chronicle of the notice of
hearing. On 6 October, the Solicitor General filed a motion to dismiss
the petition upon the ground that it states no cause of action for the
reason that what is sought to be corrected is not clerical and the
correction sought is not only her first name but also that of her
husband, a Chinese national. On 17 October, the petitioner objected to
the motion to dismiss. On 18 October, the Court dismissed the petition,
on the ground that the correction sought is substantial and not within
the purview of the provisions of article 412 of the Civil Code. On 29
October, the petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration. On 8
November, the motion for reconsideration was denied. From the dismissal
of her petition, she has appealed.
The issue is whether correcting or changing the name Vicenta to
Anacleta in the birth certificates of the petitioner’s children in the
civil registry of Quezon City involves a mere clerical error that may
be corrected by a summary proceedings provided for in article 412 of
the Civil Code,[1] or whether it
is a substantial mistake that should be corrected in an appropriate
proceeding other than that provided for in article 412.
The correction would necessarily affect the identity of the father
Ngan Hu and the mother Anacleta Barillo, for the reason that the
father’s name registered)in the birth certificates in question is not
Ngan Hu but Tomas Gan. Although it is claimed that Ngan Hu and Tomas
Gan refer to one and the same person, yet such fact should be
established and determined in an appropriate proceeding. The error
sought to be corrected and its implications are substantial that cannot
be had by a summary proceedings under article 412 of the Civil Code.
Corrections contemplated therein are “harmless and innocuous changes of
a. name that is clearly mispelled.”[2]
The second prayer of the petition is clearly beyond the power of
the Court to grant under the provisions of article 412 of the Civil
Code.
The order appealed from is affirmed, with costs against the appellant.
Bengzon, C.J., Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes, Dizon, and De Leon, JJ., concur.
[1] Ty Kong Tin vs. Republic of the Philippines, 94 Phil., 321; 50 Off. Gaz., 1077.
[2] Ansaldo vs. Republic of the Philippines, 102 Phil., 1046; 54 Off. Gaz., 5886.