Case Digest (G.R. No. 139130)
Facts:
Marissa A. Mossesgeld v. Court of Appeals and Civil Registrar General, G.R. No. 111455, December 23, 1998, Supreme Court Third Division, Pardo, J., writing for the Court.On December 2, 1989, Marissa A. Mossesgeld (the mother) gave birth to a son at The Medical City General Hospital in Mandaluyong. The child's putative father, Eleazar S. Calasan (a married lawyer), signed the birth certificate as informant and the parents both certified the information on the certificate; Calasan also executed an affidavit admitting paternity. Because hospital personnel initially refused to record the father's surname on the certificate, Calasan personally submitted the certificate to the Local Civil Registrar of Mandaluyong on December 6, 1989, seeking registration with the father's surname.
On December 28, 1989, the municipal treasurer acting as officer in charge of the Local Civil Registrar rejected registration pursuant to Civil Registrar General Circular No. 4 (dated October 11, 1988), invoking Article 176 of the Family Code (Executive Order No. 209). On October 9, 1990, Calasan was furnished a January 17, 1990 letter from the Civil Registrar General denying registration of the child's birth using the father's surname because it was contrary to law.
On November 7, 1990, Calasan filed a petition for mandamus with the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Pasig, Branch 69 (Special Civil Action No. 60146), to compel the Local Civil Registrar to register the birth certificate using his surname. On October 29, 1991, the RTC denied the petition, holding that illegitimate children born on or after August 3, 1988 must use the mother's surname regardless of paternal acknowledgment. Calasan moved for reconsideration and for leave to amend to substitute the mother, Mossesgeld, as petitioner; the RTC granted leave to amend but denied reconsideration on June 3, 1992.
Calasan (later substituted by Mossesgeld) appealed to the ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does mandamus lie to compel the Local Civil Registrar to register the certificate of live birth of an illegitimate child using the alleged father's surname where the father admitted p...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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