Dear PAO,
I would like to obtain financial support for my non-marital child, but the putative father refused to heed my demand and denied fathering our child. Someone advised me to file a petition for support and simply submit the birth certificate of my child as proof of paternity. However, the father of my son claimed that such a document cannot prove paternity since he did not sign it. Can I use the unsigned birth certificate of my child to prove his filiation with his alleged father?
Tanyanita
Dear Tanyanita,
Filiation may be established by any of the proofs mentioned in Article 172 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as amended, which provides that:
“The filiation of legitimate children is established by any of the following: 1. The record of birth appearing in the civil register or a final judgment; or 2. An admission of legitimate filiation in a public document or a private handwritten instrument and signed by the parent concerned.
“In the absence of the foregoing evidence, the legitimate filiation shall be proved by: 1. The open and continuous possession of the status of a legitimate child; or 2. Any other means allowed by the Rules of Court and special laws.”
Correlative thereto, Article 175 of the same law states that: “Illegitimate children may establish their illegitimate filiation in the same way and on the same evidence as legitimate children. The action must be brought within the same period specified in Article 173, except when the action is based on the second paragraph of Article 172, in which case the action may be brought during the lifetime of the alleged parent.”
The record of birth mentioned in the first paragraph must be signed by the father to prove filiation. An unsigned certificate of live birth will not serve the same purpose. As elucidated by the high court in the case of Angeles v. Maglaya, GR 153798, Sept. 2, 2005, penned by Associate Justice Cancio Garcia:
“The contention commends itself for concurrence. The reason is as simple as it is elementary: the Birth Certificate presented was not signed by Francisco against whom legitimate filiation is asserted. Not even by Genoveva. It was signed by the attending physician, one Rebecca De Guzman, who certified to having attended the birth of a child. Such certificate, albeit considered a public record of a private document is, under Section 23, Rule 132 of the Rules of Court, evidence only of the fact which gave rise to its execution: the fact of birth of a child. Jurisprudence teaches that a birth certificate, to be considered as validating proof of paternity and as an instrument of recognition, must be signed by the father and mother jointly, or by the mother alone if the father refuses. Dr. Arturo Tolentino, commenting on the probative value of the entries in a certificate of birth, wrote:
“xxx if the alleged father did not intervene in the making of the birth certificate, the putting of his name by the mother or doctor or registrar is void; the signature of the alleged father is necessary.”
Applying the above-quoted decision to your situation, it is required that the father must intervene in the making of the birth certificate and affix his signature to said document. The signature of the father reflected on the birth certificate of the child is the operative act of acknowledgment of paternity. Thus, while an unsigned birth certificate may be used as evidence of the fact of birth of your child, it cannot serve as evidence of filiation with his putative father. Nonetheless, in the absence of the father’s signature in the birth certificate of your son, you may still establish filiation by means of other proofs mentioned in Article 172 of the Family Code of the Philippines, such as an admission of filiation in a public or private handwritten instrument.
We hope that we were able to answer your query. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your trust and support.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]