Title
Dy Kim Liong vs. Republic
Case
G.R. No. L-18608
Decision Date
Dec 26, 1963
A father sought to correct his son's birth certificate, but the court denied the petition and improperly ordered attachment of immigration records. SC ruled the document was not registrable under the Civil Register Act.
A

Case Digest (G.R. No. 140982)

Facts:

On July 25, 1960, Dy Kim Liong, acting as petitioner and appellee, filed a petition before the Court of First Instance of Manila asking for the correction of his son Raynaldo Chan’s birth certificate. Specifically, he sought to change the name “Raynaldo Chan” to “Raynaldo Dy” and to alter the name of the recorded father from Jose Chan to Dy Kim Liong. The petition was based on an alleged mistake in the civil registry document.

While the main petition was pending, on December 29, 1960, the government moved to dismiss the petition for stating no cause of action and for lack of jurisdiction by the court a quo to grant the relief. Nonetheless, the court proceeded to try the case and on May 21, 1961, rendered a decision denying the main petition. However, the decision also included an additional relief directing the local civil registrar of Manila to register, in the birth certificate of Raynaldo, a certified true copy of the record of the Bureau of Immigration that showed petitioner’s name as Dy Kim Liong.

Subsequently, the government moved to reconsider this additional order which mandated the registration and attachment of the Bureau of Immigration document. When the motion was denied by the court a quo, the government elevated the issue by appealing the case.

Issues:

  • Whether the local civil registrar was authorized, under Sections 10, 11, and 12 of Civil Register Act No. 3753, to register and attach the certified true copy of the Bureau of Immigration record to Raynaldo’s birth certificate.
  • Whether the document in question could be classified as one of the “registrable certificates and documents” as required by the statute, which expressly covers matters such as adoptions, name changes, naturalizations, legitimation, and acknowledgments that emanate from proper court proceedings.

Ruling:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

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