RULE 103 Change of Name

Section 1. Venue. A person desiring to change his name

shall present the petition to the Court of First Instance of the
province IN WHICH HE RESIDES, or, in the City of Manila, to
the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Section 2. Contents of petition. A petition for change of
name shall be signed and verified by the person desiring his
name changed, or some other person on his behalf, and shall
set forth:
(a) That the petitioner has been a BONA
FIDE RESIDENT OF THE PROVINCE WHERE THE
PETITION IS FILED for AT LEAST three (3) YEARS
PRIOR TO THE DATE OF SUCH FILING;

(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.
- Petition for change of name is a proceeding in rem and the
publication of the order is a jurisdictional requisite. Such
publication must give the correct information, and a defect in
such publication is fatal.
- All aliases of the applicant must be set forth in the title of the
petition, otherwise, such defect would be fatal even if said
other aliases are contained in the body of the petition.
- Change of name granted by the court affects only the
petitioner. A separate petition for change of name must be filed
for his wife and children. (appropriate remedy: joint petition)

(b) The cause for which the change of the petitioner's

name is sought;

-a decree of adoption grants the adoptee the right to use the

adopters surname, but not to change the adoptees first name.

(c) The name asked for.

-change of name is allowed to IMPROVE PERSONALITY &

SOCIAL STANDING

Section 3. Order for hearing. If the petition filed is sufficient

in form and substance, the court, by an order reciting the
purpose of the petition, shall fix a date and place for the
hearing thereof, and shall direct that a COPY OF THE ORDER
BE PUBLISHED before the hearing AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK
FOR THREE (3) SUCCESSIVE WEEKS in some newspaper of
general circulation published in the province, as the court shall
deem best. The DATE SET FOR THE HEARING shall NOT BE
WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS PRIOR TO AN ELECTION nor
WITHIN FOUR (4) MONTH AFTER THE LAST PUBLICATION
OF THE NOTICE.
Section 4. Hearing. Any interested person may appear at
the hearing and oppose the petition. The Solicitor General or
the proper provincial or city fiscal shall appear on behalf of the
Government of the Republic.

- Child was Not allowed to adapt the surname of mothers 2nd

husband
- legitimate child CANNOT change his surname whose father
is fugitive from justice
- a wife CANNOT be compelled to use the surname of her
husband (because the use of the surname of the husband is
optional, permissive and never obligatory)
-The Supreme Court in the case of Republic vs.
Cagandahan, GR No. 166676, September 12, 2008, upheld
the decision of the Regional Trial Court in Siniloan,
Laguna which allowed changes in the birth certificate
of Jennifer Cagandahan as to (1) her first name from
Jennifer to Jeff and (2) the entry for gender from

Section 6. Service of judgment. Judgments or orders

rendered in connection with this rule shall be furnished the civil
registrar of the municipality or city where the court issuing the
same is situated, who shall forthwith enter the same in the civil
register.
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Change of name as recorded in the civil registry,

cannot be effected thru summary proceeding

Alien can petition for a change of name but he MUST

be DOMICILED in the Philippines

female to male.

the 2007 Supreme Court decision in the Rommel Jacinto

Dantes Silverio vs. Republic of the Philippines case. In
the Silverio case, the Court did not allow the changes
sought by Silverio in his birth certificate.
The difference between the Silverio and Cagandahan cases:
Silverio had a sex change or reassignment operation in

A person can effect a change of name under Rule 103

(CHANGE OF NAME) using valid and meritorious grounds
including:

Bangkok, Thailand. On the other hand, Cagandahan has

(a) when the name is ridiculous, dishonorable or extremely

difficult to write or pronounce;

female characteristics. As the Supreme Court stated:

(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

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) which is a

condition where a person possesses both male and

[Cagandahan] simply let nature take its course and has not
taken unnatural steps to arrest or interfere with what he was
born with. And accordingly, he has already ordered his life to
that of a male. Respondent could have undergone treatment
and taken steps, like taking lifelong medication, to force his
body into the categorical mold of a female but he did not. He
chose not to do so. Nature has instead taken its due course in
respondent's development to reveal more fully his male
characteristics.
Silverio deliberately took the sex reassignment operations
to change his body to that of a woman. Cagandahan, on

the other hand, from birth had a female body, male

hormones, two sex organs, and no monthly period.

(1) The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to

be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely
difficult to write or pronounce.
(2) The new first name or nickname has been
habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and
he has been publicly known by that by that first name
or nickname in the community: or

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9048 March 22, 2001

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OR MUNICIPAL CIVIL
REGISTRAR OR THE CONSUL GENERAL TO CORRECT A
CLERICAL OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR IN AN ENTRY
AND/OR CHANGE OF FIRST NAME OR NICKNAME IN THE
CIVIL REGISTER WITHOUT NEED OF A JUDICIAL ORDER,
AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE ARTICLES 376 AND 412
OF THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
Section 1. Authority to CORRECT CLERICAL OR
TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR AND CHANGE OF FIRST NAME
OR NICKNAME No entry in a civil register shall be changed
or corrected without a judicial order, except for clerical or
typographical errors and change of first name or nickname
which can be corrected or changed by the concerned city or
municipal civil registrar or consul general in accordance with
the provisions of this Act and its implementing rules and
regulations.

(3) The change will avoid confusion.

In case of change of first name or nickname, the petition shall
likewise be supported with the documents mentioned in the
immediately preceding paragraph. In addition, the petition shall
be published at least once a week for two (2) consecutive
weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. Furthermore, the
petitioner shall submit a certification from the appropriate law
enforcement agencies that he has no pending case or no
criminal record.
Section 7. Duties and Powers of the Civil Registrar General.
The civil registrar general shall, within ten (10) working days
from receipt of the decision granting a petition, exercise the
power to impugn such decision by way of an objection based
on the following grounds:
(1) The error is not clerical or typographical;

"Clerical or typographical error" refers to a mistake committed

in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying,
transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is
harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or
misspelled place of birth or the like, which is visible to the eyes
or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or
changed only by reference to other existing record or
records:Provided, however, That no correction must involve the
change of nationality, age, status or sex of the petitioner.
Section 3. Who May File the Petition and Where. Any person
having direct and personal interest in the correction of a
clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change of first
name or nickname in the civil register may file, in person, a
verified petition with the local civil registry office of the city or
municipality where the record being sought to be corrected or
changed is kept.
In case the petitioner has already migrated to another place in
the country and it would not be practical for such party, in
terms of transportation expenses, time and effort to appear in
person before the local civil registrar keeping the documents to
be corrected or changed, the petition may be filed, in person,
with the local civil registrar of the place where the interested
party is presently residing or domiciled. The two (2) local civil
registrars concerned will then communicate to facilitate the
processing of the petition.
Citizens of the Philippines who are presently residing or
domiciled in foreign countries may file their petition, in person,
with the nearest Philippine Consulates.
The petitions filed with the city or municipal civil registrar or the
consul general shall be processed in accordance with this Act
and its implementing rules and regulations.
All petitions for the clerical or typographical errors and/or
change of first names or nicknames may be availed of only
once.
Section 4. Grounds for Change of First Name or Nickname.
The petition for change of first name or nickname may be
allowed in any of the following cases:

(2) The correction of an entry or entries in the civil

register is substantial or controversial as it affects the
civil status of a person; or
(3) The basis used in changing the first name or
nickname of a person does not fall under Section 4.

RULE 104- VOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION OF

CORPORATIONS
Section 1. Where, by whom and on what showing application
made. A petition for dissolution of a corporation shall be filed
in the Court of First Instance of the province where the
principal office of a corporation is situated. The petition shall be
signed by a majority of its board of directors or other officers
having the management of its affairs, verified by its president
or secretary or one of its directors, and shall set forth all claims
and demands against it, and that its dissolution was resolved
upon by a majority of the members, or, if a stock corporation,
by the affirmative vote of the stockholders holding and
representing two-thirds of all shares of stock issued or
subscribed, at a meeting of its members or stockholders called
for that purpose.
-Vountary and involuntary dissolution of corporations are now
governed by corporation code (BP 68) Sections 117-122.
(Voluntary dissolution where no creditors are affected and
where creditors are affected)
RA 8799 Securities and regulation Code, July 19, 2000
-

It transfers the jurisdiction of voluntary dissolution of

corporations to REGULAR COURTS, and its
decisions are appealable to CA.

Cases under RTC: a) Devices or schemes employed by or any

acts, of the board of directors, business associates, its officers
or partnership, amounting to fraud and misrepresentation
which may be detrimental to the interest of the public and/or of
the stockholder, partners, members of associations or
organizations registered with the Commission.
b) Controversies arising out of intra-corporate or partnership
relations, between and among stockholders, members, or
associates; between any or all of them and the corporation,
partnership or association of which they are stockholders,
members or associates, respectively; and between such
corporation, partnership or association and the state insofar as

it concerns their individual franchise or right to exist as such

entity;
c) Controversies in the election or appointments of directors,
trustees, officers or managers of such corporations,
partnerships or associations.(PD 902-A)
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INSOLVENCY PROCEEDINGS and CORPORATE

REHABILITATION (AM 00-8-10) are also under the
jurisdiction of RTC