PERSONS AND FAMILY LAW

2ND EXAM - RMC

DECEMBER 17, 2023
1. In 2004, Concepion, Feliciano, and Victor Esteban, children of the spouses
Ireneo and Purificacion, extrajudicially settled the estate of their late parents.
Purificacion, 85, died in 1990 while Ireneo, 88, died in 1993. The estate
consisted of a 960-square-meter lot located in Lanang, Davao City.
In 2006, siblings Lilia, Antonio, Norma, and Julieta Esteban filed a
complaint against Concepcion et.al. praying for the declaration of nullity of
the extrajudicial settlement and the cancellation of the title issued to
Concepcion and her brothers. They alleged that they were the children of
Silvestre Esteban, Ireneo’s son with Rosalia and that Silvestre predeceased
Ireneo. As proof, they presented the following documents: 1) a Certificate
dated September 11, 2007 issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO),
wherein it was indicated that Silvestre’s father is a certain “Irineo Esteban”
but without the putative father’s signature; 2) a photocopy of a certification
dated August 3, 1978 issued by the Office of the Local Registrar of Cebu
City which certifies that according to its register of births, Silvestre was born
to “Irineo Esteban” and “Rosalia Vizcarra”; and 3) the marriage contract
between Silvestre and Lorena, wherein it was indicated that Irineo was the
father of the groom. Further, the petitioners alleged that the difference in the
spelling is merely innocuous and clearly typographical.
Were complainants able to prove their filiation? Explain. 10%
2. Would your answer be different if attached to the complaint was a copy of
Rosalia and Irineo’s canonical certificate of marriage? Reason. 10%
3. Richelle Lee, married to Julian Lee, works in Dubai as a registered nurse.
Upon expiration of her contract, she returned to the Philippines without
informing her husband only to discover that Julian is already living-in with
another woman. She decided to separate from her husband and went back to
Dubai and met Paul Ordona. They became lovers and Richelle got pregnant.
She came to the Philippines to give birth to her child and registered the child
as Paul Alrich Ordona. Subsequently, Richelle filed a petition under Rule
108 of the Rules of Court praying for the correction of entries in Paul
Alrich’s Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) particularly the surname of Paul
Alrich and the father portion thereof alleging that Paul Ordona never
acknowledged Paul Alrich as his child and that the signature appearing in the
child’s COLB was the signature of a friend not Paul’s. That the child should
instead bear her surname pursuant to Article 176 of the Family Code. If you
were the judge, would you grant the correction? Reason. 10%
4. On November 26, 2008, Lorena field a petition for correction of entry under
Rule 108 of the Rules of Court. She alleged that she was born on April 24,
1968, in Baybay, Leyte to spouses Vedasto and Almarina. Unfortunately, the
Local Civil Registrar of the said place inadvertently entered in the records
her first name as “Dorothy” instead of “Lorena” and her date of birth as
“June 24, 1968” instead of “April 24, 1968”. Decide. 10%
5. Luigi Santos is the illegitimate son of Lovely with Bong Revilla. Initially,
Bong did not recognize the child but on April 24, 1996, he executed an
affidavit of acknowledgment recognizing Luigi as his son. With the
acknowledgment, Luigi became close to the Revilla family and was even
 treated like a legitimate child of Bong. In the meantime, Lovely married
Patrick Santos who, in turn, legally adopted Luigi in 1999. Luigi consented
to the adoption in writing.
Luigi now filed a petition under Rule 103 of the Rules of Court seeking to
change his family name from “Santos” to “Revilla” on the following
grounds: 1) to avoid confusion as he has been employing the surname
“Revilla” when he entered showbusiness and had been known ever since as
Luigi Revilla and, 2) to show his sincere and genuine desire to associate
himself to Bong and the Revillas and to ensure that his records show his true
identity. Is there merit to the petition? Explain. 10%
6. Is Luigi Santos’ petition tantamount to an act seeking rescission of the
decree of adoption? If yes, can it be granted? Reason. 5%
7. Lina was 20 years old when she got pregnant and gave birth to Celina. She
then left to work as a caregiver in Israel, leaving Celina with her parents in
the Philippines. In 1999, Lina, now 34 years old who already migrated to
Canada and had become a permanent resident in Canada, met and married
Bryan who is a 24-year-old Canadian citizen. Bryan works as a bank teller in
Canada. Bryan’s parents are of Filipino ancestry but had become Canadian
citizens before Bryan was born. Wanting Celina to have all the advantages of
a legitimate child, Lina and Bryan, six months after their marriage, decided
to adopt her. Bryan's parents, already opposed to the marriage of their son to
someone significantly older, vehemently objected to the adoption. They
argued that Bryan does not possess the minimum age requirement and that
the requisite age gap required by the Intercountry Adoption Act between
Bryan as adopter and Celina as adoptee was not met. Are Bryan’s parents,
correct? Reason. 10%
8. Assume that the adoption is made under RA11642. Lina and Bryan relocated
in the Philippines, filed the petition for adoption before the National
Authority for Child Care (NACC).
Questions: A. Is Bryan qualified to adopt? Reason. 5%
B. If the NACC grants the petition, when is the adoption deemed to
take effect? Explain. 5%
9. Ailyn and James lived together without the benefit of marriage. They have a
daughter named Princess. When Princess was about 3 years old, Ailyn left the
house where the parties are residing leaving behind Princess in the care and
custody of James. Ailyn did not communicate nor inform James of her
whereabouts.
James enrolled Princess in a nursery school and would fetch the child after her
classes until, one day, Princess’ teacher informed James that the child’s
maternal grandparents took Princess with them. When confronted, the
grandfather showed James Ailyn’s letter instructing them to take Princess into
their custody as she intends to bring the child with her to Manila as soon as she
could find a job. James then filed this case in court seeking custody over the
child as Ailyn is unfit to exercise parental authority over Princess on grounds of
abandonment and unemployment.
Questions: A. If the court finds Ailyn unfit to exercise parental authority over
the child, must the order provided for under Article 216 of the Family Code be
observed and followed? Explain. 10%
 B. If the court finds that James is fit and qualified to exercise parental
authority and is granted custody over Princess, would it not violate Article 176
of the Family Code and the regime of sole maternal custody principle? Explain.
10%

BONUS POINTS -------- 5

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