108 OG No. 31, 3773 (July 30, 2012)
"WHEREFORE, finding the petition to be with merit, same is hereby granted.
Accordingly, the Local Civil Registrar of Los Baños, Laguna is hereby ordered to correct the entry in the Certificate of Live Birth of her son Zachariah Ebron y Caraan as to the citizenship of her husband Allan Ignacious P. Ebron from 'U.S. Citizen' to 'Filipino citizen.'
The 'Civil Registrar, Los Baños. Laguna' and the National Statistics Office are hereby ordered to effect the correction in the Certificate of Live Birth of Zachariah Ebron y Caraan in their records.
SO ordered."[3] (emphasis and underscoring supplied)
Thereafter, the petitioner offered in evidence the following exhibits:Thereafter, the trial court proceeded to conclude in the herein assailed Order[8] that the petition is meritorious, hence its disposition of the case, viz.:
Exhibit 'A' - the Petition; And its sub-markings Exhibit 'B' and its Sub-markings - the Order dated March 12, 2008; Exhibit 'C - Certificate of Posting Exhibit 'D' - Affidavit of Publication Exhibit'D-1' - Issue of Amihan dated March 31 to April 6, 2008; Exhibit 'D-1-A'
- Clippings of the Order; Exhibit 'D-2' - Issue of Amihan dated April 7 to April 13,2008; Exhibit 'D-2-A' - Clippings of the Order; Exhibit 'D-3' - Issue of Amihan dated April 14 to April 20, 2008; Exhibit 'D-3-A' - Clippings of the Order; Exhibit 'E' - Certificate of Live Birth of Zachariah Caraan Ebron; Exhibit 'F' - Certificate of Marriage; Exhibit 'G' - Resident Alien; Exhibit 'H' - Appearance from the Office of the Solicitor General; Exhibit 'H-1' - Deputization to the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor."[7]
(emphasis Ours)
"WHEREFORE, finding the petition to be with merit, same is hereby granted.Aggrieved, the Republic, through the OSG, interposed this appeal.
Accordingly, the Local Civil Registrar of Los Baños, Laguna is hereby ordered to correct the entry in the Certificate of Live Birth of her son Zachariah Ebron y Caraan as to the citizenship of her husband Allan Ignacious P. Ebron from 'U.S. Citizen' to 'Filipino citizen.'
The 'Civil Registrar. Los Baños. Laguna' and the National Statistics Office are hereby ordered to effect the correction in the Certificate of Live Birth of Zachariah Ebron y Caraan in their records.
SO ORDERED."[9] (emphasis and underscoring supplied)
"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE PETITION DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW HAVE NOT BEEN COMPLIED WITH."[10]
"A decision need not be a complete recital of the evidence presented. So long as the factual and legal basis are clearly and distinctly set forth supporting the conclusions drawn therefrom, the decision arrived at is valid. Nonetheless, in order to effectively buttress the judgment arrived at, it is imperative that a decision should not be simply limited to the dispositive portion but must state the nature of the case, summarize the facts with references to the record, and contain a statement of the applicable laws and jurisprudence and the tribunal's assessments and conclusions on the case. This practice would better enable a court to make an appropriate consideration of whether the dispositive portion of the judgment sought to be enforced is consistent with the findings of facts and conclusions of law made by the tribunal that rendered the decision; Compliance with this requirement will sufficiently apprise the parties of the various issues involved but more importantly will guide the court in assessing whether [the] conclusion arrived at is consistent with the facts and the law."(emphasis Ours)In this case, a cursory reading of the assailed January 2, 2008 Order will readily show that it does not contain any statement on the factual and legal basis which the RTC relied upon in granting the petition. Instead, the trial court simply made a sweeping statement, viz.:
"WHEREFORE, finding the petition to be with merit, same is hereby granted, xxx"[14]On this ground alone, the assailed Order already deserves reversal.
Here, the RTC erred in considering that petitioner already established, fully, the existence of all the required jurisdictional facts necessary to proceed with the hearing.[17] For, while Section 3 thereof mandates that "the local civil registrar and all persons who have or claim any interest which would be affected thereby" must be made parties to the proceeding, and for which, Republic vs. Cagandahan[18] held that the corresponding petition should thus implead as respondents not only the civil registrar but all other persons who may have or may claim to have any interest that would be affected thereby, it appears that this jurisdictional requirement was not complied with. Records show that Allan Ignacious, the very person whose citizenship is sought to be changed, was not made a party to the present petition, either as petitioner or as respondent. Yet, as the father of Zachariah whose citizenship was allegedly entered, erroneously, in the subject birth certificate, Allan Ignacious is even an indispensable party without whom no final determination of the case can be had.[19] Worse, unlike the Civil Registrar of Los Baños, Laguna, National Statistics Office, Office of the Solicitor General and Office of the Provincial Prosecutor, who were served copies of the petition, Allan Ignacious, the father of Zachariah, was not notified of the petition below. Yet again, it is a settled rule that unless all possible indispensable parties are duly notified of the proceedings, the same shall be considered as falling much too short of the requirements of the rules.[20] Thus, this failure to implead and to notify Allan Ignacious rendered the proceedings below null and void, for lack of jurisdiction.[21]"Rule 108
CANCELLATION OR CORRECTION OF
ENTRIES IN THE CIVIL REGISTRY
SECTION 1. Who may file petition. — Any person interested in any act, event, order or decree concerning the civil status of persons which has been recorded in the civil register, may file a verified petition for the cancellation or correction of any entry relating thereto, with the Regional Trial Court of the province where the corresponding civil registry is located.
SEC. 2. Entries subject to cancellation or correction. — Upon good and valid grounds, the following entries in the civil register may be cancelled or corrected: (a) births; (b) marriages; (c) deaths; (d) legal separations; (e) judgments of annulments of marriage; (f) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (g) legitimations; (h) adoptions; (i) acknowledgments of natural children; (j) naturalization; (k) election, loss or recovery of citizenship; (I) civil interdiction; (m) judicial determination of filiation; (n) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and (o) changes of name.
SEC. 3. Parties. — When cancellation or correction of an entry in the civil register is sought, the civil registrar and all persons who have or claim any interest which would be affected thereby shall be made parties to the proceeding.
SEC. 4. Notice and publication. — Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall, by an order, fix the time and place for the hearing of the same, and cause reasonable notice thereof to be given to the persons named in the petition. The court shall also cause the order to be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the province.
SEC. 5. Opposition. — The civil registrar and any person having or claiming any interest under the entry whose cancellation or correction is sought may, within fifteen (15) days from notice of the petition, or from the last date of publication of such notice, file his opposition thereto.
SEC. 6. Expediting proceedings. — The court in which the proceedings is brought may make orders expediting the proceedings, and may also grant preliminary injunction for the preservation of the rights of the parties pending such proceedings.
SEC. 7. Order. — After hearing, the court may either dismiss the petition or issue an order granting the cancellation or correction prayed for. In either case, a certified copy of the judgment shall be served upon the civil registrar concerned who shall annotate the same in his record, (emphasis Ours)