ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta @Magtanong Kay Attorney | October 2, 2025
Dear Chief Acosta,
May katanungan ako tungkol sa plano kong paghahain ng petisyon para kanselahin ang pangalan ko na nakatala sa bahagi ng “wife” sa marriage certificate. Napag-alaman ko kasi na may nakarehistro akong kasal sa Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) noong sinubukan kong kumuha ng Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) para sa pagpapakasal naming magkasintahan. Laking gulat ko na lamang nang biglang may lumabas na record na kasal ako sa isang Hapon. Wala akong ideya kung paano ito nangyari at ang pirma sa pangalan ko ay hindi sa akin. Ngayon, gusto kong ipatanggal ang pangalan ko sa lumabas na marriage certificate. Tama ba ang petisyon na plano kong ihain? -- Cheska
Dear Cheska,
Sa ilalim ng Rule 108 ng Rules of Court, nakalagay ang mga tuntunin patungkol sa pagkansela at pagtatama ng mga nakatala sa Civil Registry. Nakasaad dito kung sino ang maaaring maghain ng petisyon, kung anu-ano ang mga puwedeng kanselahin at baguhin, at iba pa.
Para sa kasong nakasasaklaw sa iyong katanungan, ipinaliwanag sa kasong Republic of the Philippines vs. Olaybar (G.R. No. 189538, 10 Pebrero 2014, isinulat ni Kagalang-galang na Punong Mahistrado Diosdado M. Peralta) na ang Rule 108 ng Rules of Court ay:
“Rule 108 of the Rules of Court provides the procedure for cancellation or correction of entries in the civil registry. The proceedings may either be summary or adversary. If the correction is clerical, then the procedure to be adopted is summary. If the rectification affects the civil status, citizenship or nationality of a party, it is deemed substantial, and the procedure to be adopted is adversary. Since the promulgation of Republic v. Valencia in 1986, the Court has repeatedly ruled that ‘even substantial errors in a civil registry may be corrected through a petition filed under Rule 108, with the true facts established and the parties aggrieved by the error availing themselves of the appropriate adversarial proceeding.’ An appropriate adversary suit or proceeding is one where the trial court has conducted proceedings where all relevant facts have been fully and properly developed, where opposing counsel have been given opportunity to demolish the opposite party’s case, and where the evidence has been thoroughly weighed and considered.”
Dagdag pa rito, base sa kasong nabanggit sa itaas, ang Rule 108 ng Rules of Court ay hindi maaaring gamitin para mapawalang-bisa ang kasal. Ngunit sa kasong ito, walang nangyaring kasal at walang kahit anong ebidensya na may naganap na kasal. Kaya naman, pinayagan ng Korte Suprema na kanselahin ang pangalan ng naghain ng petisyon sa ilalim ng Rule 108 ng Rules of Court. Partikular na binanggit dito na:
“While we maintain that Rule 108 cannot be availed of to determine the validity of marriage, we cannot nullify the proceedings before the trial court where all the parties had been given the opportunity to contest the allegations of respondent; the procedures were followed, and all the evidence of the parties had already been admitted and examined. Respondent indeed sought, not the nullification of marriage as there was no marriage to speak of, but the correction of the record of such marriage to reflect the truth as set forth by the evidence. Otherwise stated, in allowing the correction of the subject certificate of marriage by cancelling the wife portion thereof, the trial court did not, in any way, declare the marriage void as there was no marriage to speak of.”
Sa iyong sitwasyon, maaari kang maghain ng petition for cancellation of entries sa ilalim ng Rule 108 ng Rules of Court dahil ayon sa iyo ay wala naman talagang naganap na kasal sa pagitan niyo ng isang Hapon. Alinsunod sa nabanggit na desisyon ng ating Korte Suprema, maaaring gamitin ang Rule 108 ng Rules of Court upang gawing wasto o itama ang nakatala sa marriage certificate kung mapatutunayan na walang naganap na kasal.
Sana ay nabigyan namin ng linaw ang iyong katanungan. Ang payong aming ibinigay ay base lamang sa mga impormasyon na iyong inilahad at maaaring magbago kung mababawasan o madaragdagan ang mga detalye ng iyong salaysay.
Maraming salamat sa iyong patuloy na pagtitiwala.