Illegitimate child's birth certificate

Dear PAO,

The father of my children executed an affidavit acknowledging his paternity and registered their births without my knowledge and consent. As a result, the birth certificates of my children do not contain my signature. Since we are not married, can I have those birth certificates canceled?

Rita

Dear Rita,

Article 176 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as amended by Republic Act (RA) 9255, in part, provides that:

«Illegitimate children shall use the surname and shall be under the parental authority of their mother, and shall be entitled to support in conformity with this 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 the father makes an admission in a public document or private handwritten instrument.» (Emphasis ours)

Clearly, parental authority over a non-marital (illegitimate) child shall be exclusively exercised by the mother. In relation to the registration of the non-marital child's birth, the signature of the mother is a mandatory requirement. Paragraph 4, Section 5 of Act 3753, otherwise known as the Civil Registry Law, provides that:

«In case of an illegitimate child, the birth certificate shall be signed and sworn to jointly by the parents of the infant or only the mother if the father refuses. In the latter case, it shall not be permissible to state or reveal in the document the name of the father who refuses to acknowledge the child, or to give therein any information by which such father could be identified.» (Emphasis ours)

As could be observed above, the law uses the word «shall» to describe its mandatory nature. Thus, whether or not the father acknowledges paternity over his non-marital child, it is mandatory for the mother to sign the child's birth certificate. Otherwise, said birth certificate is void for being executed against the provision of Act 3753. This opinion finds support from the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Barcelote v. Republic, GR 222095, Aug. 7, 2017, as per Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, which held:

«On the other hand, the