The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday said children remain legitimate even if their parents’ marriage is later declared null and void due to psychological incapacity.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, the SC’s Second Division emphasized that once a child is legitimated under the Family Code, there is no legal basis for changing their status back to illegitimate.
It added that allowing this would go against the law’s intent to protect the child’s best interests.
The High Tribunal explained that when a marriage is nullified, the child is considered illegitimate from the time they were conceived.
However, the Code allows exceptions, such as when the marriage is nullified due to psychological incapacity, and this applies whether the child was born before or during the marriage.
Furthermore, a missing annotation on the birth certificate does not affect the child’s legal status.
“The formal requirement of annotating the legitimation is a mere administrative procedure which cannot impair substantive rights,” the decision stated.
Meanwhile, in his concurring opinion, Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen noted that those born outside of marriage should be referred to as “nonmarital children” instead of “illegitimate” to protect the best interests of children and guard them against discrimination.