THE FAMILY LAW OF THE

PHILIPPINES

By:
Atty. Marwil N. Llasos,
MPSA
 Executive Order No. 209

The Family Code of the Philippines, or

Executive Order No. 209, was enacted into law
by President Corazon C. Aquino on July 6, 1987.
It took effect on Aug. 3, 1988.

It was intended to supplant Book I of the Civil

Code of the Philippines concerning persons
and family relations
 Under Executive Order No. 209
Title I: Marriage
Title II: Legal Separation
Title III: Rights And Obligs Between Husband and Wife
Title IV: Property Relations Between Husband And Wife
Title V: The Family
Title VI: Paternity and Filiation
Title VII: Adoption; Title VIII: Support
Title IX: Parental Authority
Title X: Emancipation And Age Of Majority
Title XI: Summary Judicial Proceedings
Title XII: Final Provisions
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 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
Art. 1. Marriage is a special contract of permanent
union between a man and a woman entered into
in accordance with law for the establishment of
conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the
family and an inviolable social institution whose
nature, consequences, and incidents are
governed by law and not subject to stipulation,
except that marriage settlements may fix the
property relations during the marriage within the
limits provided by this Code. (52a)
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid, unless these
essential requisites are present:

(1)Legal capacity of the contracting parties who

must
be a male and a female; and

(2) Consent freely given in the presence of the

solemnizing officer.
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are:

(1)Authority of the solemnizing officer;

(2) A valid marriage license except in the cases

provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; and

 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

(3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the

appearance of the contracting parties before the
solemnizing officer and their personal declaration
that they take each other as husband and wife in
the presence of not less than two witnesses of
legal age. 

 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
Art. 4. The absence of any of the essential or
formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab
initio, except as stated in Article 35 (2).
A defect in any of the essential requisites shall
render the marriage voidable.
Irregularity in the formal requisites shall not
affect the validity of the marriage but the party or
parties responsible for the irregularity shall be
civilly, criminally and administratively liable.
 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

Art. 5. Any male or female of the age of eighteen

years or upwards not under any of the
impediments mentioned in Articles 37 (Incestuous
marriages) and 38 (Void by reason of public policy) ,
may contract marriage. 

 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
Art. 6. No prescribed form or religious rite for the
solemnization of the marriage is required. It shall be
necessary, however, for the contracting parties to
appear personally before the solemnizing officer
and declare in the presence of not less than two
witnesses of legal age that they take each other as
husband and wife. This declaration shall be
contained in the marriage certificate which shall be
signed by the contracting parties and their
witnesses and attested by the solemnizing officer.
 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

In case of a marriage in articulo mortis, when the

party at the point of death is unable to sign the
marriage certificate, it shall be sufficient for one of
the witnesses to the marriage to write the name of
said party, which fact shall be attested by the
solemnizing officer. (55a)

 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
Art. 7. Marriage may be solemnized by:

(1)Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the

court's jurisdiction;
(2) Any priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church
or religious sect duly authorized by his church or
religious sect and registered with the civil registrar
general, acting within the limits of the written authority
granted by his church or religious sect and provided
that at least one of the contracting parties belongs to
the solemnizing officer's church or religious sector;
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

(3) Any ship captain or airplane chief only in the

case mentioned in Article 31 (articulo mortis);

(4) Any military commander of a unit to which a

chaplain is assigned, in the absence of the latter,
during a military operation, likewise only in the
cases mentioned in Article 32 (articulo mortis);
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

(5) Any consul-general, consul or vice-consul in the

case provided in Article 10.

(6) Mayors of citis and municiplaities within their

jurisdiction.
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
Art. 17. The local civil registrar shall prepare a notice
which shall contain the full names and residences of the
applicants for a marriage license and other data given in
the applications. The notice shall be posted for ten
consecutive days on a bulletin board outside the office of
the local civil registrar xxx and accessible to the general
public. This notice shall request all persons having
knowledge of any impediment to the marriage to advise
the local civil registrar thereof. The marriage license
shall be issued after the completion of the period of
publication.

 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

Art. 18. In case of any impediment known to the local

civil registrar or brought to his attention, he shall note
down the particulars thereof and his findings thereon
in the application for marriage license, but shall
nonetheless issue said license after the completion of
the period of publication, unless ordered otherwise by
a competent court xxx

 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the

Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in
the country where they were solemnized, and valid
there as such, shall also be valid in this country,
except: 1.Parties Below 18, 2. Bigamous and
polygamous, 3. mistake as to identity of the other,
4.non delivery of legitimes and 5. Psychological
incapacity, 6. Incestuous, and 7. void by reasons of
public policy.
 
 Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage
 
Art. 26 par 2:

Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a

foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is
thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien
spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the
Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry
under Philippine law.

 
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 Chapter 2: Marriage Exempt from the
License Requirement

Art. 27. ARTICULO MORTIS:

In case either or both of the contracting parties

are at the point of death, the marriage may be
solemnized without necessity of a marriage
license and shall remain valid even if the ailing
party subsequently survives. 
 Chapter 2: Marriage Exempt from the
License Requirement
Art. 29. The solemnizing officer shall state in an affidavit
executed before the local civil registrar or any other person
legally authorized to administer oaths that the marriage was
performed in articulo mortis or that the residence of either
party, specifying the barrio or barangay, is so located
that there is no means of transportation to enable such
party to appear personally before the local civil
registrar and that the officer took the necessary steps to
ascertain the ages and relationship of the contracting parties
and the absence of legal impediment to the marriage. (72a)
 Chapter 2: Marriage Exempt from the
License Requirement

Art. 31. A marriage in articulo mortis

between passengers or crew members may
also be solemnized by a ship captain or by an
airplane pilot not only while the ship is at sea
or the plane is in flight, but also during
stopovers at ports of call.
 Chapter 2: Marriage Exempt from the
License Requirement

Art. 32. A military commander of a unit, who is

a commissioned officer, shall likewise have
authority to solemnize marriages in articulo
mortis between persons within the zone of
military operation, whether members of the
armed forces or civilians.
 Chapter 2: Marriage Exempt from the
License Requirement

Art. 34. No license shall be necessary for the marriage of

a man and a woman who have lived together as
husband and wife for at least five years and without
any legal impediment to marry each other. The
contracting parties shall state these in an affidavit.

The solemnizing officer shall also state under oath that

he ascertained the qualifications of the contracting
parties and found no legal impediment to the marriage.
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 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 35. The following marriages shall be void from the

beginning:

(1) Those contracted by any party below eighteen years

of age even with the consent of parents or guardians;

(2) Those solemnized by any person not legally

authorized to perform marriages unless such marriages
were contracted with either or both parties believing in
good faith that the solemnizing officer had the legal
authority to do so;
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

(3) Those solemnized without license, except those

exempt from license requirements;

(4) Those bigamous or polygamous marriages not

failing under Article 41 (disappearance);

(5) Those contracted through mistake of one contracting

party as to the identity of the other; and

(6) Those subsequent marriages that are void under

Article 53 (non delivery of legitimes).
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 36. A marriage contracted by any party

who, at the time of the celebration, was
psychologically incapacitated to comply
with the essential marital obligations of
marriage, shall likewise be void even if such
incapacity becomes manifest only after its
solemnization. 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 37. Marriages between the following are

incestuous and void from the beginning,
whether relationship between the parties be
legitimate or illegitimate:
 
(1) Between ascendants and descendants of any
degree; and
(2) Between brothers and sisters, whether of
the full or half blood. (81a)
 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 38. The following marriages shall be void

from the beginning for reasons of public
policy:
 
(1) Between collateral blood relatives whether
legitimate or illegitimate, up to the 4th civil
degree;
(2) Between step-parents and step-children;
(3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-
law;
 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

(4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;

(5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent
and the adopted child;
(6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and
the adopter;
(7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the
adopter;
(8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; and
(9) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry
the other, killed that other person's spouse, or his or her
own spouse. 
 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 41. A marriage contracted by any person during

subsistence of a previous marriage shall be null and
void, unless before the celebration of the subsequent
marriage, the prior spouse had been absent for four
consecutive years and the spouse present has a
well-founded belief that the absent spouse was
already dead. In case of disappearance where there
is danger of death under the circumstances set
forth in the provisions of Article 391 of the Civil Code,
an absence of only two years shall be sufficient.
 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

For the purpose of contracting the subsequent

marriage under the preceding paragraph the
spouse present must institute a summary
proceeding as provided in this Code for the
declaration of presumptive death of the
absentee, without prejudice to the effect of
reappearance of the absent spouse. 
 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 42. The subsequent marriage referred to in

the preceding Article shall be automatically
terminated by the recording of the affidavit of
reappearance of the absent spouse, unless there
is a judgment annulling the previous marriage
or declaring it void ab initio.
 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

A sworn statement of the fact and

circumstances of reappearance shall be
recorded in the civil registry of the residence of
the parties to the subsequent marriage at the
instance of any interested person, with due
notice to the spouses of the subsequent
marriage xxxx.
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 43. The termination of the subsequent

marriage referred to in the preceding Article
shall produce the following effects:

 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

(1) The children of the subsequent marriage conceived

prior to its termination shall be considered
legitimate;

(2) The absolute community of property or the conjugal

partnership, shall be dissolved and liquidated, but if
either spouse contracted said marriage in bad faith,
his or her share of the net profits of the community
property or conjugal partnership property shall be
forfeited in favor of the common children or, if there are
none, the children of the guilty spouse by a previous
marriage or in default of children, the innocent spouse;

 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

(3) Donations by reason of marriage shall remain valid,

except that if the donee contracted the marriage in bad
faith, such donations made to said donee are revoked by
operation of law;

(4) The innocent spouse may revoke the designation of the

other spouse who acted in bad faith as beneficiary in any
insurance policy, even if such designation be stipulated as
irrevocable; and

(5) The spouse who contracted the subsequent marriage in

bad faith shall be disqualified to inherit from the innocent
spouse by testate and intestate succession. 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 46. Any of the following circumstances

shall constitute fraud referred to in Number 3 of
the preceding Article:

(1) Non-disclosure of a previous conviction

by final judgment of the other party of a crime
involving moral turpitude;
(2) Concealment by the wife of the fact that at
the time of the marriage, she was pregnant by
a man other than her husband;
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

(3) Concealment of sexually transmissible disease,

regardless of its nature, existing at the time of the
marriage; or

(4) Concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism

or homosexuality or lesbianism existing at the time of
the marriage.

No other misrepresentation or deceit as to character,

health, rank, fortune or chastity shall constitute such fraud
as will give grounds for action for the annulment of
marriage. 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 47. The action for annulment of marriage must

be filed by the following persons and within the
periods indicated herein:

(1)For absence of consent by parents—may be filed by

the party whose parent or guardian did not give his
or her consent, within 5 years after attaining the age
of twenty-one, or by the parent or guardian or
person having legal charge of the minor, at any time
before such party has reached the age of twenty-one;
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

(2) For grounds of nsanity --- by the spouse, who had

no knowledge of the other's insanity; or by any
relative or guardian or person having legal charge of
the insane, at any time before the death of either
party, or by the insane spouse during a lucid interval
or after regaining sanity;

(3) For grounds of fraud -- by the injured party, within

five years after the discovery of the fraud;
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

(4) For grounds of force or intimidation--- by the

injured party, within five years from the time the
force, intimidation or undue influence disappeared or
ceased;

(5) For grounds of impotence and affliction with

STD or AIDS that is serious and appears incurable----
by the injured party, within five years after the
marriage. 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 48. In all cases of annulment or declaration of

absolute nullity of marriage, the Court shall order the
prosecuting attorney or fiscal assigned to it to appear
on behalf of the State to take steps to prevent collusion
between the parties and to take care that evidence is
not fabricated or suppressed.
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 52. After the judgment of annulment or of

absolute nullity of the marriage, the partition and
distribution of the properties of the spouses and
the delivery of the children's presumptive
legitime's shall be recorded in the appropriate civil
registry and registries of property; otherwise, the
same shall not affect third persons. 
 Chapter 3: Void and Voidable Marriages

Art. 53. Either of the former spouses may marry again after
compliance with the requirements of the immediately
preceding Article; otherwise, the subsequent marriage
shall be null and void.
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 LEGAL SEPARATION
Art. 55. A petition for legal separation may be filed on
any of the following grounds:

(1) Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive

conduct directed against the petitioner, a common
child, or a child of the petitioner;

(2) Physical violence or moral pressure to compel

the petitioner to change religious or political
affiliation;
 LEGAL SEPARATION

(3) Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the

petitioner, a common child, or a child of the
petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance
in such corruption or inducement;

(4) Final judgment sentencing the respondent to

imprisonment of more than six years, even if
pardoned;

(5) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the

respondent;
 LEGAL SEPARATION

(6) Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;

(7) Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent

bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or
abroad;

(8) Sexual infidelity or perversion;

(9) Attempt by the respondent against the life of the

petitioner; or
 LEGAL SEPARATION

(10) Abandonment of petitioner by respondent

without justifiable cause for more than one
year.

 
 LEGAL SEPARATION
Art. 63. The decree of legal separation shall have the
following effects:

(1) The spouses shall be entitled to live separately from

each other, but the marriage bonds shall not be severed;

(2) The absolute community or the conjugal partnership

shall be dissolved and liquidated but the offending
spouse shall have no right to any share of the net
profits earned by the absolute community or the
conjugal partnership, which shall be forfeited in
accordance with the provisions of Article 43(2);
 LEGAL SEPARATION

(3) The custody of the minor children shall be awarded

to the innocent spouse, subject to the provisions of
Article 213 of this Code; and

(4) The offending spouse shall be disqualified from

inheriting from the innocent spouse by intestate
succession. Moreover, provisions in favor of the
offending spouse made in the will of the innocent
spouse shall be revoked by operation of law. 
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 RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS BETWEEN
HUSBAND AND WIFE

Art. 68. The husband and wife are obliged to

live together, observe mutual love, respect
and fidelity, and render mutual help and
support. 
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 Chapter 1. General Provisions

Art. 74. The property relationship between husband

and wife shall be governed in the following order:

(1)By marriage settlements (pre nuptial) executed

before the marriage;

(2) By the provisions of this Code; and

(3) By the local custom. (118)

.
 Section 2. What Constitutes Community Property

Art. 91. Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter

or in the marriage settlements, the community
property shall consist of all the property owned by
the spouses at the time of the celebration of the
marriage or acquired thereafter.
.
 Section 2. What Constitutes Community Property

Art. 92. The following shall be excluded from the community

property:

(1) Property acquired during the marriage by gratuitous

title by either spouse, and the fruits as well as the income
thereof, if any, unless it is expressly provided by the donor,
testator or grantor that they shall form part of the community
property;

(2) Property for personal and exclusive use of either spouse.

However, jewelry shall form part of the community property;

.
 Section 2. What Constitutes Community Property

(3) Property acquired before the marriage by either

spouse who has legitimate descendants by a former
marriage, and the fruits as well as the income, if any,
of such property. (201a)
 Section 2. What Constitutes Community Property

(3) Property acquired before the marriage by either

spouse who has legitimate descendants by a former
marriage, and the fruits as well as the income, if any,
of such property. 
 Section 1. General Provisions

Art. 105. In case the future spouses agree in the

marriage settlements that the regime of conjugal
partnership gains shall govern their property
relations during marriage.
 
 Section 1. General Provisions

The conjugal partnership of gains shall also apply

to marriages before the effectivity o the Family Code
which was on August 3, 1988.
 Section 1. General Provisions

Art. 106. Under the regime of conjugal partnership of

gains, the husband and wife place in a common fund the
proceeds, products, fruits and income from their
separate properties and those acquired by either or
both spouses through their efforts or by chance, and,
upon dissolution of the marriage or of the
partnership, the net gains or benefits obtained by
either or both spouses shall be divided equally
between them, unless otherwise agreed in the
marriage settlements. 
 Section 3. Conjugal Partnership Property

Art. 117. The following are conjugal partnership

properties:
 
(1) Those acquired by onerous title during the marriage at
the expense of the common fund, whether the acquisition
be for the partnership, or for only one of the spouses;

(2) Those obtained from the labor, industry, work or

profession of either or both of the spouses;
 Section 3. Conjugal Partnership Property

(3) The fruits, natural, industrial, or civil, due or received

during the marriage from the common property, as well as
the net fruits from the exclusive property of each spouse;

(4) The share of either spouse in the hidden treasure which

the law awards to the finder or owner of the property
where the treasure is found;

(5) Those acquired through occupation such as fishing or

hunting;
 Section 3. Conjugal Partnership Property

(6) Livestock existing upon the dissolution of the

partnership in excess of the number of each kind
brought to the marriage by either spouse; and

(7) Those which are acquired by chance, such as

winnings from gambling or betting. However, losses
therefrom shall be borne exclusively by the loser-
spouse. 
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Art. 135. Any of the following shall be considered
sufficient cause for judicial separation of property:
 
(1) That the spouse of the petitioner has been
sentenced to a penalty which carries with its civil
interdiction;

(2) That the spouse of the petitioner has been judicially

declared an absentee;
(3) That loss of parental authority of the spouse of
petitioner has been decreed by the court;

(4) That the spouse of the petitioner has abandoned the

latter or failed to comply with his or her obligations to
the family as provided for in Article 101;

(5) That the spouse granted the power of

administration in the marriage settlements has abused
that power; and
(6) That at the time of the petition, the spouses have
been separated in fact for at least one year and
reconciliation is highly improbable.

In the cases provided for in Numbers (1), (2) and (3),

the presentation of the final judgment against the guilty
or absent spouse shall be enough basis for the grant of
the decree of judicial separation of property. 
Art. 136. The spouses may jointly file a verified
petition with the court for the voluntary
dissolution of the absolute community or the
conjugal partnership of gains, and for the
separation of their common properties.
 
 
All creditors of the absolute community or of the
conjugal partnership of gains, as well as the
personal creditors of the spouse, shall be listed in
the petition and notified of the filing thereof. The
court shall take measures to protect the creditors
and other persons with pecuniary interest.
Art. 141. The spouses may, in the same proceedings
where separation of property was decreed, file a
motion in court for a decree reviving the property
regime that existed between them before the
separation of property in any of the following
instances:
 
(1) When the civil interdiction terminates;
(2) When the absentee spouse reappears;
(3) When the court, being satisfied that the spouse granted
the power of administration in the marriage settlements
will not again abuse that power, authorizes the resumption
of said administration;

(4) When the spouse who has left the conjugal home
without a decree of legal separation resumes common life
with the other;

(5) When parental authority is judicially restored to the

spouse previously deprived thereof;
(6) When the spouses who have separated in fact for at least
one year, reconcile and resume common life; or

(7) When after voluntary dissolution of the absolute

community of property or conjugal partnership has been
judicially decreed upon the joint petition of the spouses,
they agree to the revival of the former property regime. No
voluntary separation of property may thereafter be granted.
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Art. 143. Should the future spouses agree in the
marriage settlements that their property relations
during marriage shall be governed by the regime of
separation of property, the provisions of this
Chapter shall be suppletory. (212a)
Art. 144. Separation of property may refer to
present or future property or both. It may be total or
partial. In the latter case, the property not agreed
upon as separate shall pertain to the absolute
community. (213a)
 
Art. 145. Each spouse shall own, dispose of, possess,
administer and enjoy his or her own separate estate,
without need of the consent of the other. To each
spouse shall belong all earnings from his or her
profession, business or industry and all fruits,
natural, industrial or civil, due or received during
the marriage from his or her separate
property. (214a)
 
Art. 146. Both spouses shall bear the family
expenses in proportion to their income, or, in case of
insufficiency or default thereof, to the current
market value of their separate properties.
 
The liabilities of the spouses to creditors for family
expenses shall, however, be solidary. (215a)
 
8
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Art. 147. When a man and a woman who are
capacitated to marry each other, live exclusively
with each other as husband and wife without the
benefit of marriage or under a void marriage, their
wages and salaries shall be owned by them in equal
shares and the property acquired by both of them
through their work or industry shall be governed by
the rules on co-ownership.
 

 
In the absence of proof to the contrary, properties
acquired while they lived together shall be presumed
to have been obtained by their joint efforts, work or
industry, and shall be owned by them in equal
shares. A party who did not participate in the
acquisition by the other party of any property shall be
deemed to have contributed jointly in the acquisition
thereof if the former's efforts consisted in the care
and maintenance of the family and of the household.
 

 
Neither party can encumber or dispose by acts inter
vivos of his or her share in the property acquired
during cohabitation and owned in common, without
the consent of the other, until after the
termination of their cohabitation.
 

 
When only one of the parties to a void marriage is in
good faith, the share of the party in bad faith in the
co-ownership shall be forfeited in favor of their
common children. In case of default of or waiver by
any or all of the common children or their descendants,
each vacant share shall belong to the respective
surviving descendants. In the absence of descendants,
such share shall belong to the innocent party. In all
cases, the forfeiture shall take place upon termination of
the cohabitation.
Art. 148. In cases of cohabitation not falling under the
preceding Article, only the properties acquired by
both of the parties through their actual joint
contribution of money, property, or industry shall
be owned by them in common in proportion to their
respective contributions. In the absence of proof to
the contrary, their contributions and corresponding
shares are presumed to be equal. – Note: This refers to
cohabitations with impediment.

 
If one of the parties is validly married to another,
his or her share in the co-ownership shall accrue to
the absolute community or conjugal partnership
existing in such valid marriage. If the party who acted
in bad faith is not validly married to another, his or her
shall be forfeited in the manner provided in the last
paragraph of the preceding Article.

The foregoing rules on forfeiture shall likewise apply

even if both parties are in bad faith.

 
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 CHAPTER 2. PROOF OF FILIATION

Art. 172. 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.
 CHAPTER 2. PROOF OF FILIATION

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. (265a, 266a, 267a)
 CHAPTER 2. PROOF OF FILIATION

Art. 173. The action to claim legitimacy may be

brought by the child during his or her lifetime and
shall be transmitted to the heirs should the child
die during minority or in a state of insanity. In these
cases, the heirs shall have a period of five years
within which to institute the action.
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 Chapter 1. General Provisions

Art. 211. The father and the mother shall jointly

exercise parental authority over the persons of their
common children. In case of disagreement, the father's
decision shall prevail, unless there is a judicial order to
the contrary.

Children shall always observe respect and reverence

towards their parents and are obliged to obey them as
long as the children are under parental authority. 
 Chapter 1. General Provisions

Art. 218. The school, its administrators and

teachers, or the individual, entity or institution
engaged in child care shall have special parental
authority and responsibility over the minor child while
under their supervision, instruction or custody.

Authority and responsibility shall apply to all

authorized activities whether inside or outside the
premises of the school, entity or institution. 
 Chapter 1. General Provisions

Art. 219. Those given the authority and

responsibility under the preceding Article shall be
principally and solidarily liable for damages
caused by the acts or omissions of the
unemancipated minor. The parents, judicial
guardians or the persons exercising substitute
parental authority over said minor shall be
subsidiarily liable.
 
 Chapter 1. General Provisions

The respective liabilities of those referred to in the

preceding paragraph shall not apply if it is proved
that they exercised the proper diligence required
under the particular circumstances.
 
 Chapter 1. General Provisions

Art. 225. The father and the mother shall jointly

exercise legal guardianship over the property of the
unemancipated common child without the necessity
of a court appointment. In case of disagreement, the
father's decision shall prevail, unless there is a
judicial order to the contrary.
 
CORRECTION OF ENTRIES: CIVIL
REGISTRY

Where a person’s baptismal name is

different from the name appearing in his
birth certificate, the remedy is not for
correction of the name in the birth
certificate, but for a change of name under
Rule 103.
Where the petition does not merely seek the
correction of an entry made by mistake but
calls for a change in the parents’ name in the
birth certificate, or for a change in the
surname of the petitioner to conform to the
surname of his alleged father, which matters
involve a determination of filiation or
citizenship of the petitioner, the remedy is
not for correction of entries in the civil
register, but an action to claim legitimacy or
establishing his filiation.
Under Republic Act 9048, the city or municipal
registrars have the power to correct clerical,
typographical errors or change of first name or
nickname of a person, in a summary
proceeding.

However, for substantial changes in the entries

in the civil register a petition under Rule 108 of
the Rules of Court, which is the appropriate
adversarial proceeding, must be filed.
Thank you!