Daoang v.

Municipal Judge of San Nicolas

GR L-34568, 28 March 1988 (159 SCRA 369)

Facts:

On 23 March 1971, spouses Antero and Amanda Agonoy filed a petition with the
Municipal Court of San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte seeking the adoption of minors Quirino
Bonilla and Wilson Marcos. However, minors Roderick and Rommel Daoang, assisted
by their father and guardian ad litem, the petitioners herein filed an opposition to
the said adoption. They contended that the spouses Antero and Amanda Agonoy
had a legitimate daughter named Estrella Agonoy, oppositors mother, who died on 1
March 1971, and therefore said spouses were disqualified to adopt under Article 335
of the Civil Code, which provides that those who have legitimate, legitimated,
acknowledged natural children or children by legal fiction cannot adopt.

Issue: Whether the spouses Antero Agonoy and Amanda Ramos are disqualified to
adopt under paragraph 1 of Article 335 of the Civil Code.

Held:

The words used in paragraph (1) of Article 335 of the Civil Code, in enumerating the
persons who cannot adopt, are clear and unambiguous. When the New Civil Code
was adopted, it changed the word descendant, found in the Spanish Civil Code to
which the New Civil Code was patterned, to children. The children thus mentioned
have a clearly defined meaning in law and do not include grandchildren. Well known
is the rule of statutory construction to the effect that a statute clear and
unambiguous on its face need not be interpreted. The rule is that only statutes with
an ambiguous or doubtful meaning may be the subjects of statutory construction. In
the present case, Roderick and Rommel Daoang, the grandchildren of Antero
Agonoy and Amanda Ramos-Agonoy, cannot assail the adoption of Quirino Bonilla
and Wilson Marcos by the Agonoys.
The Supreme Court denied the petition, and affirmed the judgment of the Municipal
Court of San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte (Special Proceedings 37), wthout pronouncement
as to costs.