Case Digest (G.R. No. 234660)
Facts:
Spouses Magdalino Gabun and Carol Gabun, Nora A. Lopez, and Marcelino Alfonso v. Winston Clark Stolk, Sr., G.R. No. 234660, June 26, 2023, Supreme Court Second Division, Kho, Jr., J., writing for the Court. Petitioners are the custodial relatives (collateral grandparents and actual custodians) of the minor child Winston Clark Daen Stolk, Jr.; respondent Winston Clark Stolk, Sr. filed a verified petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking absolute and permanent custody of Winston after the child’s mother, Catherine Alfonso Daen, died hours after giving birth on July 22, 2007.Respondent alleged paternity (as shown on Winston’s birth certificate) and secured a DNA test showing 99.9997% probability of paternity. The Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 73, Olongapo City, after receiving respondent’s evidence including the DNA report, issued a Decision dated April 22, 2014 awarding custody to respondent on the basis of parentage and Articles 212–213 of the Family Code. Petitioners moved for reconsideration and supplemental reconsideration, arguing inter alia that Articles 214 and 216 (substitute parental authority for illegitimate children) apply, that respondent was unfit, and that a DSWD case study should be ordered under the Rule on Custody of Minors; the RTC denied their motions in an Order dated November 4, 2014.
Petitioners filed a Notice of Appeal by registered mail on November 24, 2014 and paid the appellate docket and other lawful fees on November 27, 2014. The RTC dismissed the appeal for nonpayment of fees in an Order dated December 7, 2014 and declared the April 22, 2014 Decision final on December 11, 2014. Petitioners continued to file motions; the RTC denied relief in orders dated August 26, 2016 and May 19, 2017. Petitioners then filed a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 before the Court of Appeals (CA) on July 28, 2017; the CA dismissed it as time-barred in a Resolution dated August 23, 2017 and denied reconsideration on October 9, 2017.
Petitioners filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 before the Supreme Court (filed October 26, 2017). The Supre...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals commit reversible error in dismissing petitioners’ Petition for Certiorari as time‑barred and in upholding the RTC’s dismissal of petitioners’ Notice of Appeal for nonpayment of appellate fees (procedural issue)?
- Did the RTC commit grave abuse of discretion in awarding custody to respondent based principally on paternity without applying the Rule on Custody of Minors and the Family Code provisions governing illegitimate children and substitute pare...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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