REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, petitioner, vs. CHULE Y. LIM, respondent.

[G.R. No. 153883. January 13, 2004]

419 SCRA 123

FACTS: Chule Y. Lim (respondent), an illegitimate daughter of Yu Dio To (Father/

Chinese) and Placida Anto (Mother/ Filipina), claimed that she was born on October
29, 1954 in Buru-an, Iligan City. Her birth was registered in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte
but the Municipal Civil Registrar of Kauswagan transferred her record of birth to Iligan
City. She alleged that both her Kauswagan and Iligan City birth certificates have four
erroneous entries, and prays that they be corrected.
These were the errors:
1) Respondent claims that her surname “Yu” was misspelled as “Yo”.
2) Respondent claims that her father’s name in her birth record was written as “Yo
Diu To (Co Tian)” when it should have been “Yu Dio To (Co Tian).”
3) Respondent nationality was entered as Chinese when it should have been
Filipino.
4) It was erroneously indicated in her birth certificate that she was a legitimate child
when she should have been described as illegitimate.

These Petitions were granted although there was one error in which the petitioner
specifically filed an appeal (the correction of her citizenship from Chinese to Filipino) as
she was not able to comply with the requirements for the election of citizenship as cited
under Article IV, Section 1(3) of the 1935 Philippine Constitution and Commonwealth Act
No. 625 providing the election of citizenship of a legitimate child of a Filipino mother and
an Alien father upon reaching the age of majority.

ISSUE: Whether or not respondent can elect Filipino citizenship.

HELD: No, respondent was already a Filipino at birth. The constitutional and the statutory
requirements were provided for legitimate children. Considering that the respondent was
born as an illegitimate child of a Filipino mother, automatically, she had already been a
Filipino citizen since birth.