SC: OFWs have custody rights

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may still exercise parental authority and even sole custody over their children despite being assigned abroad, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled. 

In a decision written by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez dated 22 July 2024, the SC’s Second Division awarded an OFW sole custody of her minor children, with provisional custody granted to the children’s grandmother who lives with them in the Philippines.

The mother in 2017, separated from the children’s father after four years of marriage and agreed to share joint custody of their children, provided that the father would provide financial support.

She later moved to France for work, leaving the children in the father’s care. When she learned that the father would leave their children to other people without her consent, she took the children and left them in the custody of their maternal grandmother.

A notarized document was issued naming the grandmother as the children’s guardian in her absence.

Habeas corpus for custody

The father filed a petition for habeas corpus seeking custody of his children, who were two and three years old at the time. A habeas corpus petition for child custody is a legal action aimed at recovering a child who is believed to be unlawfully held by the other parent, a relative, or a guardian.

The father argued that since the mother was “absent,” he should have custody of the children instead of their grandparents.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) denied his petition and awarded the mother exclusive parental authority and permanent custody of the children.

Under Article 220 of the Family Code, parental authority includes keeping the children in their company, supporting, educating, protecting them, and giving them love and affection. 

In the absence of the mother, the RTC placed the children under the care of their

grandmother, while the father was granted only visitation rights, while the Court of Appeals (CA) granted joint parental authority to both the mother and father, maintained sole custody of the children with the mother and granted provisional custody to the grandmother.

The SC upheld the CA’s decision, stating that the mother should not be considered an “absent” parent simply because she is an OFW. Being an OFW does not strip a parent of their right to exercise parental authority or to have sole custody of their children.