Facts:

The case involves Marissa A. Mossesgeld, the petitioner, who filed a case against the Court of Appeals and the Civil Registrar General as respondents. The legal proceedings originated from an earlier ruling by the Regional Trial Court of Pasig, Branch 69, which had dismissed the petition of the putative father, Eleazar Siriban Calasan, later substituted by Mossesgeld, seeking to compel the local civil registrar of Mandaluyong to register the birth certificate of her illegitimate child under the surname of the presumed father. On December 2, 1989, Mossesgeld, a 31-year-old singe mother, gave birth to a baby boy named Jonathan at the Medical City General Hospital in Mandaluyong. Eleazar Calasan, a 42-year-old married lawyer, signed the birth certificate as the informant, indicating the child's name as Jonathan Mossesgeld Calasan, thereby acknowledging his paternity. However, upon attempting to register the birth certificate on December 6, 1989, they were informed that the loca

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Facts:

Birth and Parental Acknowledgment

• On December 2, 1989, petitioner Marissa A. Mossesgeld, a 31-year-old single woman, gave birth to a baby boy at the Medical City General Hospital, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila.
• This was her third delivery and the child was born out of an extramarital relationship.
• The presumed father, Eleazar S. Calasan, a 42-year-old married lawyer residing in Makati, executed the certificate of live birth as the informant, providing the child’s names and including his surname as the last name.
• Both parents signed the dorsal side of the certificate, affirming the truthfulness of the recorded information.
• Furthermore, Calasan executed an affidavit expressly admitting his paternity.

Registration Process and Hospital Refusal

• Due to the hospital staff’s refusal to register the child under the presumed father’s surname, the certificate was submitted by the petitioner to the office of the local civil registrar of Mandaluyong on December 6, 1989.
• The municipal treasurer, acting as officer in charge of the local civil registrar, rejected the registration on December 28, 1989, citing Circular No. 4 (dated October 11, 1988) from the Civil Registrar General.
• The circular was based on Article 176 of the Family Code of the Philippines, which mandates that illegitimate children born on or after August 3, 1988, shall use the mother's surname.

Legal Proceedings and Lower Court Decisions

• On November 7, 1990, lawyer Eleazar S. Calasan filed a petition for mandamus with the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Pasig, Branch 69 to compel the registration of the certificate with his surname.
• The RTC, on October 29, 1991, denied the petition, ruling that notwithstanding the acknowledgment of paternity, the law requires that an illegitimate child use the mother’s surname.
• Petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration on November 21, 1991, and concurrently sought leave to amend the petition to substitute the unwed mother as the petitioner on December 9, 1991.
• The RTC granted the motion to amend on February 11, 1992, but later denied the motion for reconsideration on June 3, 1992.
• An appeal was subsequently elevated to the Court of Appeals, which rendered a decision on July 23, 1993, affirming the RTC’s ruling.

Issue:

Main Legal Issue

• Whether a writ of mandamus lies to compel the Local Civil Registrar of Mandaluyong to register the certificate of live birth of an illegitimate child using the presumed father’s surname, despite the latter’s acknowledgment of paternity.

Subsidiary Consideration

• Whether the admission of paternity by the father can override the mandatory provision of Article 176 of the Family Code requiring that the child use his mother’s surname.
• Whether mandamus is applicable in a situation where compliance with the writ would enforce an act that is contrary to an established legal provision.

Ruling:

• (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

• (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

• (Subscriber-Only)