WEEK05 #34 Miller v Miller misspellings, and the like, errors that are visible to the eyes or obvious to

G.R. No. 200344 | 28 Aug 2019 the understanding or corrections that are not controversial and are
By: DEL CASTILLO supported by indubitable evidence.
Here, what petitioner seeks is not a mere clerical change. It is not a
simple matter of correcting a single letter in a respondent’s surname due
Topic: Action to impugn legitimacy to a misspelling. Rather, private respondent’s filiation will be gravely
Petitioner: Glenn M Miller substituted by his surviving legal heirs affected, as changing her surname from Miller to Espenida will also
Evelyn L. Miller et al. change her status. This will affect not only her identity, but her
Respondent: Joan Miller y Espenida and the Local Civil Registrar of successional rights as well. Certainly, this change is substantial.
Gubat, Sorsogon Further the court emphasized that “legitimacy and filiation can be
Ponente: Leonen, J. questioned only in a direct action seasonably filed by the proper party
and not through collateral attack. Moreover, impugning the legitimacy of
FACTS: a child is governed by Art 171 of the Family Code not Rule 108 of the
John Miller and Beatriz Marcaida were married. They bore four children, Rules of Court.
namely Glenn, Charles, Betty, and John Jr. After John’s death, a Joan
Miller, through her mother, Lennie Espenida filed before the RTC a
petition for Partition, and Accounting of John’s estate. Alleging that she is
John’s illegitimate child with Lennie, Joan presented her certificate of
live birth. Glenn filed a separate petition praying that Joan’s Certificate of
Live Birth be cancelled. With it he also prayed that the Local Civil
Registrar be directed to replace Joan’s surname, Miller, with Espenida,
and that Joan use Espenida instead of Miller in all official documents.
In proving the Joan is the illegitimate child of John, she showed a birth
certificate unsigned by John, showed that he openly and continuously
recognized her as his child during his lifetime, that she grew up in his
ranch, that John financed her studies, and that in his holographic will, he
left Joan 1/8 share of his estate.

ISSUE:
Was Glenn correct in filing a petition for Correction of Entries in the
Certificate of Live Birth of Joan Miller y Espenida to impugn Joan’s
legitimacy

RULING:
No. Under Rule 108, the Court explained that the summary procedure for
correction of entries is confined to innocuous or clerical errors such as