[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’RAMBLINGS OF THE UNMARRIED | Labels’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
GORDON Q. GUILLERGAN
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
Thursday, June 15, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
“In every child who is born, under no matter what circumstances, and of no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human race is born again; and in him, too, once more, and of each of us, our terrific responsibility towards human life; towards the utmost idea of goodness, of the horror of error, and of God.” — James Agee
WHY DO WE as a society have this notion about illegitimate children? I don’t know how to put it in words but, the way we say it, it’s like they are a sore. “Batà na sia sa gwa,” commonly whispered with eyes widening like it is something we all should cringe at.
I could positively say that I am the last person to condemn, judge or categorize someone just because he or she is illegitimate. I am someone who embraces imperfection, and that includes believing in the idea that no marriage is ever perfect and one mistake would or could not define it.
Flerida Ruth Romero on the Philippine Law Journal has written that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and statements of national policy, as those in our Constitution, underscore the importance of the family as the natural and fundamental group/unit of society or foundation of the nation, thus the need to protect it, strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development. While the nuclear family is composed of the parents and their children, in many societies like ours, the “family” embraces its extensions, like the relatives and the clan.
The status of the children vis-à-vis their parents goes to the very essence of the stability and integrity of the family. Thus, it is to the interest of the State to uphold the legitimacy of children inasmuch as this status spawns such rights as those to bear the surname of the father and mother, the right to receive support and to be entitled to the legitimate and other successional rights under the law. Beyond this, the “tentacles” that attach themselves to the nuclear family cannot claim similar rights. Under recent laws, there is a discernible trend in law to favor and uphold the legitimacy of children.
She pointed out that before the Family Code was enacted, legitimate children occupied the highest category. There were several classes of illegitimate children: natural children, natural children by legal fiction, acknowledged natural children, and illegitimate children other than natural such as spurious and adulterous children. But now under Article 163 of the Family Code, there are only legitimate or illegitimate children, depending on whether the child was conceived or born during the marriage of the parents.
She noted that if there is a discernible trend in law to favor and uphold the legitimacy of children, especially in case of doubt, there is a similar trend to bestow more rights to the illegitimate children on the modern theory that there are no illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents.
Under the Family Code, the illegitimate children now enjoy these rights: to use only the surname and be under the parental authority of the mother and to be entitled to support and to receive legitime but only one-half of that of the legitimate child.
Now, thanks to a new law sponsored by Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr. in 2004 called the Revilla Law (Republic Act No. 9255), illegitimate children, if expressly acknowledged by their fathers, may use his surname, not merely that of their mothers, so long as “their filiation has been expressly recognized by the father through the record of birth appearing in the civil register or when an admission in a public document or private handwritten instrument is made by the father.” Such recognition will expectedly pave the way for support and increased successional or inheritance rights.
Personally, I feel that the only reason why the legitimacy of a person becomes a matter of discussion is when there are riches avoided by the family to be handed to those they feel are unworthy to receive it — based, of course, on their own personal criteria of worthiness. We are talking about riches that initially do not even belong to them as they are a mere blessing of God that we are mandated by Him to share. If you think about it, we do not own anything in this world. We came here with nothing, and we will leave with nothing. I don’t see how at this day and age there would still be narrow-minded people who exist to give remarks on the classification of a person’s legitimacy.
On the other side of things, those who are born illegitimate have the tendency to believe that they do not belong anywhere or with anyone. If you are one of the many, take note of this: You are not your parents’ mistake. You have lived this long for a mission. You belong to yourself and to those who love you. Other people’s opinion of you is not your business and your life shouldn’t be theirs’ either. (gordon.qg@hotmail.com/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
