Rights of legitimate or marital children and legitimated children, A174 Family Code
1. Rights of legitimate or marital children and legitimated children
a. Surnames of the father and the mother
Art. 174. Legitimate children shall have the right:
(1) To bear the surnames of the father and the mother, in conformity with the provisions of the Civil Code on Surnames; x x x
Related provisions:
ART. 364. Legitimate and legitimated children shall principally use the surname of the father. (CIVIL CODE)
ART. 369. Children conceived before the decree annulling a voidable marriage shall principally use the surname of the father. (Ibid.)
Reading Article 364 of the Civil Code together with the State’s declared policy to ensure the fundamental equality of women and men before the law, a legitimate child is entitled to use the surname of either parent as a last name. (Alanis III v. CA, G.R. No. 216425, November 11, 2020, Per Leonen, J.)
Our laws on the use of surnames state that legitimate and legitimated children shall principally use the surname of the father. The Family Code gives legitimate children the right to bear the surnames of the father and the mother… (In Re: Petition for Change of Name, G.R. No. 159966, March 30, 2005, Per Tinga, J.)
Alanis III v. CA, G.R. No. 216425, November 11, 2020, Per Leonen, J.:
• The only reason why the lower court denied the petitioner’s prayer to change her surname is that as legitimate child of Filomeno Duterte and Estrella Alfon she should principally use the surname of her father invoking Art. 364 of the Civil Code. But the word “principally” as used in the codal-provision is not equivalent to “exclusively” so that there is no legal obstacle if a legitimate or legitimated child should choose to use the surname of its mother to which it is equally entitled. Moreover, this Court in Haw Liong vs. Republic… said:
“The following may be considered, among others, as proper or reasonable causes that may warrant the grant of a petitioner for change of name; (1) when the name is ridiculous, tainted with dishonor, or is extremely difficult to write or pronounce; (2) when the request for change is a consequence of a change of status, such as when a natural child is acknowledged or legitimated; and (3) when the change is necessary to avoid confusion (Tolentino, Civil Code of the Philippines, 1953 ed., Vol. 1, p. 660).”
• Given these irrefutable premises, the Regional Trial Court patently erred in denying petitioner’s prayer to use his mother’s surname, based solely on the word “principally” in Article 364 of the Civil Code.
• The trial court’s reasoning further encoded patriarchy into our system. If a surname is significant for identifying a person’s ancestry, interpreting the laws to mean that a marital child’s surname must identify only the paternal line renders the mother and her family invisible. This, in turn, entrenches the patriarchy and with it, antiquated gender roles: the father, as dominant, in public; and the mother, as a supporter, in private.
a. Middle name
Applying these laws, an illegitimate child whose filiation is not recognized by the father bears only a given name and his mother’s surname, and does not have a middle name. The name of the unrecognized illegitimate child therefore identifies him as such. It is only when the illegitimate child is legitimated by the subsequent marriage of his parents or acknowledged by the father in a public document or private handwritten instrument that he 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 illegitimate child. (In Re: Petition for Change of Name, G.R. No. 159966, March 30, 2005, Per Tinga, J.)
Accordingly, the registration in the civil registry of the birth of such individuals requires that the middle name be indicated in the certificate. The registered name of a legitimate, legitimated and recognized illegitimate child thus contains a given or proper name, a middle name, and a surname. (In Re: Petition for Change of Name, G.R. No. 159966, March 30, 2005, Per Tinga, J.)
b. Support
Art. 174. Legitimate children shall have the right:
x x x
(2) To receive support from their parents, their ascendants, and in proper cases, their brothers and sisters, in conformity with the provisions of this Code on Support; x x x
See: Title VIII – Support, Family Code
c. Legitimate and other successional rights
Art. 174. Legitimate children shall have the right:
x x x
(3) To be entitled to the legitimate and other successional rights granted to them by the Civil Code. (264a)
See: Title IV – Succession, Civil Code
