Dear Atty. Angela,

I am an illegitimate child as my parents were not married. I did not grow up with my father and I never really had any relationship with him but his name is indicated in my birth certificate. Recently, I learned of my father’s passing and I would like to claim my inheritance as his son. However, his other children are questioning my filiation and are saying that since there is no signature of my father in the birth certificate, I could not use this as evidence in my legal claim. Is this true?

Sam

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Dear Sam,

The burden of proving paternity is on the person who alleges that the putative father is the biological father of the child. Time and again, the Court has ruled that a high standard of proof is required to establish paternity and filiation. If petitions for recognition and support are dismissed for failure to meet such high standard, with more reason that the court cannot declare a person to be an illegitimate heir of a decedent without any evidence to support such declaration. (Vizcarra v. Vizcarra-Nocillado, G.R. No. 205241, 11 January 2023)

Under the law, birth certificates offer prima facie evidence of filiation. To overthrow the presumption of truth contained in a birth certificate, a high degree of proof is needed.

However, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled in a catena of cases that “[a] certificate of live birth purportedly identifying the putative father is not competent evidence of paternity when there is no showing that the putative father had a hand in the preparation of said certificate.” (Perla v. Baring, G.R. No. 172471, 12 November 2012)

In this case, if your supposed father did not intervene in the making or preparation of the birth certificate (e.g., supplying the information himself), any inscription of his name by your mother, the doctor, or even the registrar will be considered null and void. The mere issuance of certificate by the registrar without the signature of the father is not proof of voluntary acknowledgment.

Thus, a birth certificate issued solely by the civil registrar, without your father’s signature or proof of his participation, does not constitute proof of voluntary acknowledgment of filiation and has no probative value in court to prove the same.

Atty. Angela Antonio