RULE 108CANCELLATION OR CORRECTION OF

ENTRIES IN THE CIVIL REGISTRY

By: ALMUJER U. AMMANG

SUMMARY Who may file petition Entries subject to cancellation or

correction Parties Notice and Publication Opposition Expediting Proceedings Order

Section 1 : Who may file petition?

Any person interested in any act, event, order or decree concerning the civil status of persons which has been recorded in the civil register, may file a verified petition for the cancellation or correction of any entry relating thereto, with the Court of First Instance of the province where the corresponding civil registry is located

R.A. 9048 vs Rule 108 Rule 108 is modified by R.A. 9048

(effective, Feb. 8, 2001):

R.A. 9048SUMMARY

PROCEEDINGS

Rule 108ADVERSARY

PROCEEDINGS

Typographical errors Change in civil status

Clerical errorsChange of Citizenship/Nationality

Change of first nameOther substantial changes

Change of nickname

What constitutes Clerical/Typographical errors?

Section 2, Paragraph 3 of R.A. 9048 provides:• "Clerical or typographical error" refers to a

mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth or the like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records: Provided, however, That no correction must involve the change of nationality, age, status or sex of the petitioner

What are the valid grounds for change of First Name/Nickname?

As provided in R.A. 9048, Section 4:• The petition for change of first name or nickname

may be allowed in any of the following cases: (1) The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce.

(2) The new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and he has been publicly known by that by that first name or nickname in the community: or

(3) The change will avoid confusion.

When to file petition? No law/rule specifically prescribes a

fixed time for filing special proceedings under Rule 108

As such, Art. 1149 of the civil code applies:• “Other actions whose periods are not fixed in

this Code or in other laws must be brought within five (5) years from the time the right of action accrues.”

• Thereby, said right of action accrues upon DISCOVERY OF ERROR.

ELEMENTS OF CAUSE OF ACTION

1. A right in favor of the plaintiff by whatever means and under whatever law it arises or is created;

2. An obligation on the part of the defendant to respect such right;

3. An act or omission on the part of such defendant violative of the right of the plaintiff

Section 2. Entries subject to cancellation or correction

Upon good and valid grounds, the following entries in the civil register may be cancelled or corrected:(a) births: (i) acknowledgments of

natural children;

(b) marriage; (j) naturalization;

(c) deaths; (k) election, loss or recovery of citizenship;

(d) legal separations; (l) civil interdiction;

(e) judgments of annulments of marriage;

(m) judicial determination of filiation;

(f) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning;

(n) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and

(g) legitimations; (o) changes of name

(h) adoptions;

Section 3. Parties When cancellation or correction of an

entry in the civil register is sought, the following shall be made parties to the proceeding:• civil registrar ; and • all persons who have or claim any interest

which would be affected

Section 4. Notice and publication

Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall, by an order, fix the time and place for the hearing of the same, and cause reasonable notice thereof to be given to the persons named in the petition.

The court shall also cause the order to be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the province

PUBLICATION SUFFICIENT TO INCLUDE ALL

INTERESTED PARTIES

A petition for correction is an ACTION IN REM: an action against a thing and not against a person

An IN REM proceeding is validated essentially through publication (e.g. notifying all possible interested parties)

Section 5. Opposition The civil registrar and any person

having or claiming any interest under the entry whose cancellation or correction is sought may, within fifteen (15) days from notice of the petition, or from the last date of publication of such notice, file his opposition thereto

The following are likewise entitled to oppose the petition:

civil registrar all persons who have or claim any

interest which would be affected

Section 6. Expediting proceedings

The court in which the proceeding is brought may make orders expediting the proceedings, and may also grant preliminary injunction for the preservation of the rights of the parties pending such proceedings.

Section 7. Order After hearing, the court may either

dismiss the petition or issue an order granting the cancellation or correction prayed for. In either case, a certified copy of the judgment shall be served upon the civil registrar concerned who shall annotated the same in his record

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