Vancil vs Belmes

358 SCRA 707 Facts: 1. Petitioner, Bonifacia Vancil, is the mother of Reeder C. Vancil, a Navy serviceman of the United States of America who died in the said country on ecem!er "", 1#$%. urin& his lifetime, Reeder had two '"( children named Valerie and Vincent !y his common)law wife,Res*ondent +elen ,. Belmes. ". -ay of 1#$.) Petitioner files &uardianshi* *roceedin&s w/ R0C of Ce!u over the *ersons and *ro*erties of minors Valerie and Vincent 'Valerie was only % years old while Vincent was a ") year old(. 1. 2uly 13, 1#$.) Bonifacia Vancil was a**ointed le&al and 4udicial &uardian. 5. Au&ust 11, 1#$.) 6 su!mitted an o**osition to the su!4ect &uardianshi* *roceedin&s asseveratin& that she had already filed a similar *etition for &uardianshi*. 3. 2une "., 1#$$) 6 files for the Removal of ,uardian and A**ointment of a New 7ne, herself. Assertin& that she is the natural mother in actual custody of and e8ercisin& *arental authority over the su!4ect minors. 'She also cites that *etition was filed under an im*ro*er venue since the *etitioner was a naturali9ed U.S. citi9en residin& in Colorado(. %. 7cto!er 1", 1#$$) court re4ected and denied 6:s motion. A**eal denied. .. CA reverses R0C citin&; Civil Code considers parents, the father, or in the absence, the mother, as natural guardian of her minor children. The law on parental authority under the Civil Code or P.D. 603 and now the ew !amily Code, "#rticle $$% of the !amily Code& ascribe to the same legal pronouncements. $. -arch 1<, 1##$) a**eals to SC #. Se*tem!er 13, 1##$) 6 manifests that custody of Valerie has !ecome moot and academic w/ the latter reachin& the a&e of maturity on Se*tem!er ", 1##$. 0hus case only for the son Vincent. Issue: WON the mothe o! the mino Vincent shoul" #e his $ua "ian %WON $ an"mothe has i$ht to $ua "ianshi& ove the mothe '(

)el": *+S, the natural mother of the minor, has the *referential ri&ht over that of *etitioner to !e his &uardian. A ticle -.. of the =amily Code *rovides; '#rt. $((. The father and the mother shall )ointly e*ercise parental authority over the persons of their common children. +n case of disagreement, the father,s decision shall prevail, unless there is a )udicial order to the contrary. Bein& the natural mother of the minor Vincent, 6 has the corres*ondin& natural and le&al ri&ht to his custody.Petitioner contends that she is more >ualified as &uardian of Vincent. Petitioner:s claim to !e the &uardian of said minor can only !e reali9ed !y way of su#stitute &a ental autho it/ &u suant to A ticle -.0 of the =amily Code, thus; ?Art. "15. @n case of death, a!sence or unsuita!ility of the *arents, su!stitute *arental authority shall !e e8ercised !y the survivin& &rand*arent. Petitioner, as the su vivin$ $ an"&a ent, can e1e cise su#stitute &a ental autho it/ onl/ in case o! "eath, a#sence o unsuita#ilit/ o! es&on"ent( Considerin& that res*ondent is very much alive and has e8ercised continuously *arental authority over Vincent, *etitioner has to *rove, in assertin& her ri&ht to !e the minor:s &uardian, res*ondent:s unsuita!ility. Petitioner asserts this !ased on the alle&ation that Valerie was ra*ed several times !y the 6 live in *artner. +owever this case *ertains to Vincent and is thus not directly attesta!le to that fact. -oreover the status as a U.S. resident, her old a&e and her conviction of li!el in the country deem her unliAely to !e a!le to e8ecute the duties of a &uardian 'has not !een in RP since $.:(. -oreover cou ts shoul" not a&&oint &e sons as $ua "ians 2ho a e not 2ithin the 3u is"iction o! ou cou ts !o the/ 2ill !in" it "i!!icult to & otect the 2a "s(