RIGHT OF ACKNOWLEDGED CHILD TO USE SURNAME OF BIOLOGICAL FATHER

Q. Greetings atty.Wong ! I just want to know what will i do with my situation.
I am an illegitimate child born in 1990. I am using my mother’s last name as it is
what appears in my Certificate of Live Birth(COLB). Can I use my father’s last name
given I am an acknowledged illegitimate child?
ANS: As a rule and being an acknowledged illegitimate child as evidenced by your COLB and
pursuant to R.A. No.9255, you may use the surname of your biological father by asking him to
execute a notarized Affidavit Authorizing the use of his Surname and file the same with the Civil
Registrar where your birth of recorded is registered without the need of court’s approval.
However, considering you were born before the passage of R.A.No.9255, there could be an
issue on this matter, as I have heard a lot of stories wherein the Philippine Statistics
Authority(PSA), allows only those illegitimate children born during the effectivity of R.A. No.9255
sometime in February 2004, to avail of this law.
Kindly note that the procedural requirements for those seeking to avail the benefits of R.A. No.
9255 is presently governed by the Administrative Order (A.O.) No. 1, Series of 2016 (Revised
Implementing Rules and Regulations Governing the Implementation of R.A. 9255). However,
under Rule 1 of the said IRR expressly limits its application only to those illegitimate children born
during the effectivity of R.A. No. 9225, i.e. born March 19, 2004 onwards.
This is in contrast to the previous IRR– Administrative Order (A.O.) No. 1, Series of 2004 (the Rules
and Regulations Governing the Implementation of R.A. 9255) which, as stated in its Rule 1, is made
applicable to all illegitimate children born before or after the effectivity of R.A. 9255. Hence, the
2004 IRR gave RA 9255 retroactive effect to those illegitimate children born before March 19,
2004.
Batas PINOY Global

By: ATTY. ROGELIO N. WONG
“Laws relating to family rights and duties,or to
the status, condition and legal capacity of
persons are binding upon Filipino citizens, even
though living abroad.” (Article 15 Civil Code of
the Philippines)

2

The view of the Batas Pinoy on this issue being that R.A. No. 9255 is a remedial legislation and as
such the said law has a retroactive effect to include illegitimate children born prior to March
19,2004, the effectivity of RA No.9255.
Moreover, in the case of Jenie San Juan Dela Cruz, et. al. vs. Ronald Paul S. Garcia, in his capacity
as the Civil Registrar of Antipolo City, G.R. No.177728, dated July 31,2009, the Supreme Court,
held that an illegitimate child who is recognized by the biological father as shown by the father’s
writing , be allowed to use the surname of his father, without the need of court approval, because
the writing itself admitsthe filiation of the father. The court further held that “it is thus “the policy
of the Family Code to liberalize the rule on the investigation of the paternity and filiation of
children, especially of illegitimate children as the “State as parens patriae affords special
protection to children from abuse, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their
development.”“In the eyes of society, a child with an unknown father bears the stigma of
dishonor. It is to petitioner minor child’s best interests to allow him to bear the surname of the
now deceased Dominique and enter it in his birth certificate,” the court held.
In view of the above, should the PSA refuses to allow you to use the surname of your biological
father, you can ask your lawyer to file the petition Court, in compel the PSA to give due course to
your plea.
Looking forward you’ll find the above in order as the “Batas Pinoy” global
community welcomes you in this program. For more legal queries, issues and
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