By: Jay R. Bautista
Article 356. Every child:
(1) Is entitled to parental care;
(2) Shall receive at least elementary education;
(3) Shall be given moral and civic training by the parents or guardian;
(4) Has a right to live in an atmosphere conducive to his physical, moral and intellectual development.
Article 357. Every child shall:
(1) Obey and honor his parents or guardian;
(2) Respect his grandparents, old relatives, and persons holding substitute parental authority;
(3) Exert his utmost for his education and training;
(4) Cooperate with the family in all matters that make for the good of the same.
Article 358. Every parent and every person holding substitute parental authority shall see to it that the rights of the child are respected and his duties complied with, and shall particularly, by precept and example, imbue the child with high mindedness, love of country, veneration for the national heroes, fidelity to democracy as a way of life,
and attachment to the ideal of permanent world peace.
Article 359. The government promotes the full growth of the faculties of every child. For this purpose, the government will establish, whenever possible:
(1) Schools in every barrio, municipality and city where optional religious instruction shall be taught as part of the curriculum at the option of the parent or guardian;
(2) Puericulture and similar centers;
(3) Councils for the Protection of Children; and
(4) Juvenile courts.
Article 360. The Council for the Protection of Children shall look after the welfare of children in the municipality. It shall, among other functions:
(1) Foster the education of every child in the municipality;
(2) Encourage the cultivation of the duties of parents;
(3) Protect and assist abandoned or mistreated children, and orphans;
(4) Take steps to prevent juvenile delinquency;
(5) Adopt measures for the health of children;
(6) Promote the opening and maintenance of playgrounds;
(7) Coordinate the activities of organizations devoted to the welfare of children, and secure their cooperation.
Article 361. Juvenile courts will be established, as far as practicable, in every chartered city
or large municipality.
Article 362. Whenever a child is found delinquent by any court, the father, mother, or guardian may in a proper case be judicially admonished.
Article 363. In all questions on the care, custody, education and property of children, the latter’s welfare shall be paramount. No mother shall be separated from her child under seven years of age, unless the court finds compelling reasons for such measure.
The name of an individual has two parts:
(1) the given or proper name and
(2) the surname or family name. The given or proper name is that which is givento the individual at birth or at baptism, to distinguish him from other individuals. The surname or family name is that which identifi es the family to which he belongs and is continued
from parent to child. The given name may be freely selected by the parents for the child, but the surname to which the child is entitled is fixed by law.
A name is said to have the following characteristics:
(1)It is absolute, intended to protect the individual from being confused with others.
(2) It is obligatory in certain respects, for nobody can be without a name.
(3) It is fixed, unchangeable, or immutable, at least at the start, and maybe changed only
for good cause and by judicial proceedings.
(4) It is outside thecommerce of man, and therefore inalienable and intransmissible
by act inter vivos or mortis causes.
(5) It is imprescriptible
Middle names have a practical and legal significance in that they serve to identify the maternal lineage or filiation of a person as well as further distinguish him or her from others who may have the same given name and surname as he or she has.
A middle name cannot just be dropped without compelling or justifiable reasons. It cannot be dropped merely because it is an inconvenience to the person using it.
Case Digest:
Re: Petition for Change of Name and/or Correction of Entry in the Civil Registry of
Julian Lin Carulasan Wang, G.R. No. 159966, March 30, 2005, 454 SCRA 155
FACTS:
Julian was born in Cebu City on February 20, 1998 to parents Anna Lisa Wang and Sing-Foe Wang who were then not yet married to each other. When his parents subsequently got married on September 22, 1998, they executed a deed of legitimation of their son so that the child’s name was changed from Julian Lin Carulasan to Julian Lin Carulasan Wang.
Since the couple planned to live in Singapore where Julian will study together with a sister who was born in Singapore, Anna Lisa decided to file a petition in the Regional Trial Court seeking to drop his middle name and have his registered name in the Civil Registry changed from Julian Lin Carulasan Wang to Julian Lin Wang. The reason given for the change of name sought in the petition is that Julian may be discriminated against when he studies in Singapore because of his middle name since in Singapore middle names or the maiden surname of the mother is not carried in a person’s name.
After trial, the RTC denied the petition because the reason given did not fall within the grounds recognized by law. The RTC ruled that since the State has an interest in the name of a person it cannot just be changed to suit the convenience of the bearer of the name. The RTC said that legitimate children have the right to bear the surnames of the father and the mother, and there is no reason why this right should be taken from Julio considering that he was still a minor. When he reaches majority age he could then decide whether to change his name by dropping his middle name, added the RTC.
ISSUE:
Was the RTC correct in denying the petition?
HELD:
Yes. Middle names serve to identify the maternal lineage or filiation of a person as well as further distinguish him from others who may have the same given name and surname as he has. When an illegitimate child is legitimated by subsequent marriage of his parents or acknowledged by the father in a public instrument or private handwritten instrument, he then bears both his mother’s surname as his middle name and his father’s surname as his surname, reflecting his status as a legitimated child or an acknowledged natural child. The registered name of a legitimate, legitimated and recognized illegitimate child thus contains a given name, a middle name and a surname.
The State has an interest in the names borne by individuals and entities for purposes of identification, and that a change of name is a privilege and not a right, so that before a person can be authorized to change his name given him either in his certificate of birth or civil registry, he must show proper or reasonable cause, or any compelling reason which may justify such change. Otherwise, the request should be denied.
To justify a request for change of name, petitioner must show not only some proper or compelling reason therefore but also that he will be prejudiced by the use of his true and official name. Among the grounds for change of name which have been held valid are: (a) when the name is ridiculous, dishonorable or extremely difficult to write or pronounce; (b) when the change results as a legal consequence, as in legitimation; (c) when the change will avoid confusion; (d) when one has continuously used and been known since childhood by a Filipino name, and was unaware of alien parentage; (e) a sincere desire to adopt a Filipino name to erase signs of former alienage, all in good faith and without prejudicing anybody; and (f) when the surname causes embarrassment and there is no showing that the desired change of name was for a fraudulent purpose or that the change of name would prejudice public interest.
In the case at bar, the only reason advanced by petitioner for the dropping his middle name is convenience. However, how such change of name would make his integration into Singaporean society easier and convenient is not clearly established. That the continued use of his middle name would cause confusion and difficulty does not constitute proper and reasonable cause to drop it from his registered complete name.
In addition, petitioner is only a minor. Considering the nebulous foundation on which his petition for change of name is based, it is best that the matter of change of his name be left to his judgment and discretion when he reaches the age of majority. As he is of tender age, he may not yet understand and appreciate the value of the change of his name and granting of the same at this point may just prejudice him in his rights under our laws. (In Re: Petition for Change of Name and/or Correction of Entry in the Civil Registry of Julian Lin Carulasan Wang G.R. 159966, March 30 2005, 454 SCRA 2155).
PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS 