Legal Question in Family Law in Philippines
I have a problem with my documents so I wanted to consult you for advise. Here goes:
I was born on 1989 to a European father and a Filipino mother in Manila. My certificate of birth was filled out by my father with his signature on it as informant/father. I am now using his Last name. Since he is a foreigner, he placed my second name on the field for middle name which is common in European countries disregarding my mother's maiden last name. Since then I use my supposedly second name as my middle initial to not conflict with records with every school/public document I have. Also my birth certificate reflects my last name to be the same as my dad's. My parents brought me to the UK oftentimes to meet the other members of the family. My dad died when I turned 5 and we have no communication whatsoever with the family of my father based in the UK. When I grew much older, I wanted to travel and renew my passport. Here's where the problemSSSSS come in.
First, my old passport (brown one-expired in 1995) reflects my true name. Meaning it does not match what is in my birth certificate. It reflects my mother's maiden name as my middle name which on my birth certificate it was my supposedly second name on the "middle name" field.
Second, I thought of getting a passport as a first timer since I think that the brown passport is obsulete. I saw that one of the requirements for getting a passport for persons with foreign sounding middle and last names is to provide an MC secpa of parents. My second name (middle name on birth certificate) is Ang which makes me qualified for both categories (foreign sounding middle and last name). Problem is my parents were not married at the time of my birth yet on my birth certificate, my father indicated a place and date of marriage just to save him the time of filling out the acknowledgement at the back of the certificate. Although we have a Affidavit of Paternal Acknowlegdement from him signed by a known attorney and both of my parents. I tried going to the civil registrar of Manila but they could not give me a clear answer because my father deceased many years ago.
As far as I know, illegitimate children were not allowed to use the surnames of their father unless they are married under the new family code of 1987. I am now so confused. Everytime I look for solutions to my problems, more problems come up and it's like its a dead end for me. All I want is to get to travel to other places and see cultures. I am really really frustrated. Everytime I think about this, I cry helplessly. Please let me know what I can do about this problems.
Thank you,
Moira
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your problem is very simple.All you have to do is to have your certificate of live birth corrected and/or cancelled.This can be done by filing a petition in court.Better engage a counsel of your own choice to represent you.