REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Regional Trial Court

8th Judicial Region
Branch 15, Burauen, Leyte

RE: IN THE MATTER OF THE SP. PROC. CASE NO. _______

PETITION TO CARRY THE
SURNAME OF THE FATHER,

EUGENIA N. ALARE,
Petitioner

-versus-

THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF

TACLOBAN CITY AND LISA
GRACE H. BERSALES, PH.D.,
NATIONAL STATISTICIAN AND
CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL OF
THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS
AUTHORITY,
Respondents
x----------------------------------------------/

PETITION
PETITIONER, EUGENIA N. ALARE, by the undersigned counsel
unto this Honorable Court respectfully states that:

1. Petitioner Eugenia N. Alare (Eugenia for brevity) is of legal age,

Filipino, married, and a resident of San Agustin Street, District 2,
Poblacion, Burauen, Leyte and she may be served with notices, orders
and other processes of the Honorable Court at her counsel’s address at
Kings Building, Paterno Street, Tacloban City;
Page 2 of 6

2. Minor child Christian John Alare (Christian for brevity) is a

resident of San Agustin Street, District 2, Poblacion, Burauen, Leyte
together with his mother and father since the day he was born as
evidenced by the Barangay Certification hereto attached as Annex “A”
and is made an integral part of this petition;

3. Respondents herein are being sued in their official capacities

being the concerned agencies and official custodian of the Certificate of
Live Birth of the subject minor child with office addresses at Kanhuraw
Hill, Tacloban City and 2/F PSA TAM building, East Avenue, Quezon City,
1101 where they may be served with notices, orders and other processes
of the Honorable Court;

4. Christian was born in the City of Tacloban on August 31, 2003

and registered in the Local Civil Registry of Tacloban City as evidenced
by his Certificate of Live Birth issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority
hereto attached as Annex “B” and is made an integral part of this petition;

5. Christian was born to parents Eugenia N. Alare and Conrado G.

Espedilla Jr. (Conrado for brevity). His mother had a previous marriage
with another man, with whom she was already separated in fact before
she met and cohabited with his father and at the time he was born, he
could not be legitimated because of the presence of a legal impediment
of his parents to marry each other. Copy of marriage certificate of the
previously contracted marriage of Eugenia Alare issued by the National
Statistics Office is hereto attached as Annex “C” and is likewise made an
integral part of this petition;

6. Since Christian was born out of wedlock then he is an

illegitimate child of Eugenia and Conrado;

7. However, at the time of Christian’s birth, he was acknowledged

by his father as evidenced by the Affidavit of
Acknowledgement/Admission of Paternity signed by Conrado on the
Certificate of Live Birth ;

8. Christian has used the surname Espedilla in all his records

including the Baptismal Certificate and School Records. Copies of the
Page 3 of 6

Baptismal Certificate issued by the Parish of Burauen and Form 137 are
hereto attached as Annex “D” and “E” respectively, likewise made an
integral part of this petition;

9. With the enactment of RA 9255,(An Act Allowing Illegitimate

Children to Use the Surname of Their Father, Amending for the Purpose
Article 176 of Executive Order No. 209, Otherwise Known as the “Family
Code of the Philippines”), Christian could have availed of its benefits, but
to petitioner’s dismay, her child Christian could not avail of the benefits of
said law as Clark was born before its effectivity;

10. In Administrative Order No. 1 otherwise known as the

“Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9255
issued by the Civil Registrar General and approved on March 22, 2016, it
stated that the Revised IRR of RA 9255 shall apply only to those children
born during the effectivity of RA 9255;

11. RA 9255 took effect on March 19, 2004 and Christian was
born on August 31, 2003 way before the effectivity of such act;

12. Christian is already in High School at present and just a few

years from now, he will be enrolling in college and it is of common
knowledge that upon admission in college, the birth certificate of the
enrollee would be required of him as one of the requisites for enrollment;

13. Hence, it bears a great confusion to the general public most

especially to the school as to why the child bears his mother’s surname
in his certificate of live birth and that of his father in his school records.
The child feels like an outcast from his father and the rest of his relatives
as though he does not belong to the family because of the difference in
the surname of his records;

14. The father and the child will always be propelled with
questions as to why the child’s surname in his birth certificate is different
and you could only imagine the great deal of embarrassment and ridicule
that may be felt by both the father and the child every time the
circumstance is being explained to other people;

15. They had to explain, with utmost awkwardness and

discomfort, as to why the child is bringing his mother’s surname in the
birth certificate when in fact and in truth, he has a father. This brings a
Page 4 of 6

negative impact on the child emotionally and not to mention the legal
implications and troubles he may encounter in the future because of his
different surname in his birth certificate;

16. If only Christian will have a surname the same with that of his
father in his birth certificate, all of these will be avoided and any other
legal complications in the future will be evaded;

17. In the case of Republic of the Philippines vs. Julian Edward

Emerson Coseteng-Magpayo, G.R. No.189476, February 2, 2011, the
Supreme Court ruled that:

“ A person can effect a change of name under Rule 103

(CHANGE OF NAME) using valid and meritorious grounds
including (a) when the name is ridiculous, dishonorable or
extremely difficult to write or pronounce; (b) when the
change results as a legal consequence such as legitimation;
(c) when the change will avoid confusion; (d) when one
has continuously used and been known since childhood by a
Filipino name, and was unaware of alien parentage; (e) a
sincere desire to adopt a Filipino name to erase signs of
former alienage, all in good faith and without prejudicing
anybody; and (f) when the surname causes
embarrassment and there is no showing that the
desired change of name was for a fraudulent purpose
or that the change of name would prejudice public
interest.” emphasis supplied.

18. Avoiding confusion and undue embarrassment on the part of

both the father and especially the child is the main thrust of this petition
and solely filed in furtherance of the best interests of the minor child
Clark;

19. Furthermore, Christian cannot be made to suffer for a

circumstance beyond his control, being born before the
effectivity of RA 9255;

20. This petition is not in any way filed to mislead the public or for
any other fraudulent purposes and does not in any way prejudice public
interest. Copy of Affidavit of Acknowledgment of Paternity and Consent to
Page 5 of 6

Use the Surname of the Father is hereto attached and marked as Annex
“F”;.;

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, it is respectfully prayed of

this Honorable Court, after due notice, publication and hearing to grant
this Petition and render a decision ordering the public respondents to
cause the change of name of minor child from CHRISTIAN JOHN
ALARE to CHRISTIAN JOHN ALARE ESPEDILLA.

Such other reliefs just and equitable under the premises are
likewise prayed for.

__________________________, 2018 Tacloban City, Philippines

ATTY. CHRISTOPHER RYAN P. ROSAL

Counsel for the Petitioner
Roll No. 67012
IBP No. 024315, 1/5/2018, LEYTE
PTR No. 7700343, 1/3/2018, TAC. CITY
MCLE Compliance No. VI-0011171
Kings Bldg., Paterno St., Tacloban City
Page 6 of 6

VERIFICATION & AFFIDAVIT

OF NON-FORUM SHOPPING

I, Eugenia N. Alare, of legal age, Filipino, single and with residential

address at San Agustin Street, District 2, Poblacion, Burauen, Leyte after
been duly sworn to in accordance with law do hereby depose and state,
that:

1. I am the petitioner in the above-entitled case;

2. I have caused the preparation of the foregoing Petition, have

read the allegations therein and verify that the same are true and correct
based on my own personal knowledge and/or on authentic records;

3. I have not commenced any action or filed any claim involving

the same or similar issues in any other court, tribunal or quasi-judicial
agency, including the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court or any
division thereof and to the best of my knowledge, no such other action or
claim is pending therein. If I should learn hereafter that the same or
similar action or claim has been filed or is pending, I shall report that fact
within five (5) days from such knowledge to this Honorable Court;

4. I am executing this affidavit in order to attest to the truth of

the foregoing;

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature this

_____ day of _____________ 2018 at the City of Tacloban, Philippines.

EUGENIA N. ALARE
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this _______ day of

______________________ 2018 at the City of Tacloban, Philippines.
Affiant is personally known to the notary public.

Doc. No. _____;

Page No. _____;
Book No. _____;
Series of 2018