Legmed Week 04

LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II
WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians
RA 6677 Generics Act ............................................................................................................................ 2

RA 8504 AIDS Prevention and Control Act ........................................................................................ 6
Act 3753 Issuance of Birth and Death Certificate ............................................................................ 19
Act 3573 Law on Reporting Communicable Disease ...................................................................... 24
RA 9275 Expanded Senior Citizens Act ............................................................................................ 25
RA 7170 Organ Donor Act of 1991 .................................................................................................... 34
RA 7885 Act to Advance Corneal Transplantation .......................................................................... 40
Case: Dr. Alano v. Magud-Lugmao ................................................................................................... 42
PD 651 (as amended) Requiring the Registration of Births and Deaths in the Philippines ...... 49
Case: Baldos v. CA .............................................................................................................................. 52
Case: Silverio v. Republic ................................................................................................................... 58
Case: Republic v. Cagandahan ......................................................................................................... 69
RA 6677 Generics Act

Republic Act No. 6675
September 13, 1988
AN ACT TO PROMOTE, REQUIRE AND ENSURE THE PRODUCTION OF AN ADEQUATE

SUPPLY, DISTRIBUTION, USE AND ACCEPTANCE OF DRUGS AND MEDICINES
IDENTIFIED BY THEIR GENERIC NAMES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled::
Section 1. Title This Act shall be known as the "Generics Act of 1988."
Section 2. Statement of Policy It is hereby declared the policy of the State:
To promote, encourage and require the use of generic terminology in the importation,
manufacture, distribution, marketing, advertising and promotion, prescription and
dispensing of drugs;
To ensure the adequate supply of drugs with generic names at the lowest possible cost
and endeavor to make them available for free to indigent patients;
To encourage the extensive use of drugs with generic names through a rational system
of procurement and distribution;
To emphasize the scientific basis for the use of drugs, in order that health professionals
may become more aware and cognizant of their therapeutic effectiveness; and
To promote drug safety by minimizing duplication in medications and/or use of drugs
with potentially adverse drug interactions.
Section 3. Definition of Terms The following terms are herein defined for purposes of this
Act:
(1) "Generic Name or Generic Terminology" is the identification of drugs and medicines
by their scientifically and internationally recognize active ingredients or by their official
generic name as determined by the Bureau of Food and Drugs of the Department of
Health.
(2) "Active Ingredient" is the chemical component responsible for the claimed therapeutic
effect of the pharmaceutical product.
(3) "Chemical Name" is the description of the chemical structure of the drug or medicine
and serves as the complete identification of a compound.
(4) "Drug Product" is the finished product form that contains the active ingredients,
generally but not necessarily in association with inactive ingredients.
(5) "Drug Establishment" is any organization or company involved in the manufacture,

importation, repacking and/or distribution of drugs or medicines.
(6) "Drug Outlets" means drugstores, pharmacies,
establishments which sell drugs or medicines.
and any other
business
(7) "Essential Drugs List" or "National Drug Formulary" is a list of drugs prepared and
periodically updated by the Department of Health on the basis of health conditions
obtaining in the Philippines as well as on internationally accepted criteria. It shall consist
of a core list and a complementary list.
(8) "Core List" is a list of drugs that meets the health care needs of the majority of the
population.
(9) "Complementary List" is a list of alternative drugs used when there is no response to
the core essential drug or when there is hypersensitivity reaction to the core essential
drug or when for one reason or another, the core essential drug cannot be given.
(10) "Brand Name" is the proprietary name given by the manufacturer to distinguish its
product from those of competitors.
(11) "Generic Drugs" are drugs not covered by patent protection and which are labeled
solely by their international non-proprietary or generic name.
Section 4. The Use of Generic Terminology for Essential Drugs and Promotional
Incentives. (a) In the promotion of the generic names for pharmaceutical products, special
consideration shall be given to drugs and medicines which are included in the Essential Drugs
List to be prepared within one hundred eighty (180) days from approval of this Act and updated
quarterly by the Department of Health on the basis of health conditions obtaining in the
Philippines as well as on internationally accepted criteria.
(b) The exclusive use of generic terminology in the manufacture, marketing and sales of drugs
and medicines, particularly those in the Essential Drugs List, shall be promoted through such a
system of incentives as the Board of Investments jointly with the Department of Health and
other government agencies as may be authorized by law, shall promulgate in accordance with
existing laws, within one hundred eighty (180) days after approval of this Act.
Section 5. Posting and Publication The Department of Health shall publish annually in at
least two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines the generic names, and the
corresponding brand names under which they are marketed, of all drugs and medicines
available in the Philippines.
Section 6. Who Shall Use Generic Terminology - (a) All government health agencies and
their personnel as well as other government agencies shall use generic terminology or generic
names in all transactions related to purchasing, prescribing, dispensing and administering of
drugs and medicines.
(b) All medical, dental and veterinary practitioners, including private practitioners, shall write
prescriptions using the generic name. The brand name may be included if so desired.
(c) Any organization or company involved in the manufacture, importation, repacking, marketing
and/or distribution of drugs and medicines shall indicate prominently the generic name of the
product. In the case of brand name products, the generic name shall appear prominently and
immediately above the brand name in all product labels as well as in advertising and other
promotional materials.
(d) Drug outlets, including drugstores, hospital and non-hospital pharmacies and non-traditional
outlets such as supermarkets and stores, shall inform any buyer about any and all other drug
products having the same generic name, together with their corresponding prices so that the
buyer may adequately exercise, his option.
Within one (1) year after approval of this Act, the drug outlets referred to herein, shall post in
conspicuous places in their establishments, a list of drug products with the same generic name
and their corresponding prices.
Section 7. Provision on Quality, Manufacturers Identity and Responsibility In order to
assure responsibility for drug quality in all instances, the label of all drugs and medicines shall
have the following: name and country of manufacture, dates of manufacture and expiration. The
quality of such generically labeled drugs and medicines shall be duly certified by the
Department of Health.
Section 8. Required Production Subject to the rules and regulations promulgated by the
Secretary of Health, every drug manufacturing company operating in the Philippines shall be
required to produce, distribute and make available to the general public the medicine it
produces, in the form of generic drugs.
Section 9. Rules and Regulations The implementation of the provisions of this Act shall be
in accordance with the rules and regulations to be promulgated by the Department of Health.
Rules and regulations with penal sanctions shall be promulgated within one hundred eighty
(180) days after approval of this Act and shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the
Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Section 10. Authority to Import Within three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act,
extendible by the President for another two (2) years and during periods of critical shortage and
absolute necessity, the Department of Health is hereby authorized to import raw materials of
which there is a shortage for the use of Filipino-owned or controlled drug establishments to be
marketed and sold exclusively under generic nomenclature. The President may authorize the
importation of raw materials tax and duty-free. The Secretary of Health shall ensure that the
imported raw materials are allocated fairly and efficiently among Filipino-owned or controlled
drug establishments. He shall submit to the Office of the President and to Congress a quarterly
report on the quantity, kind and value of the raw materials imported.
Section 11. Education Drive The Department of Health jointly with the Department of
Education, Culture and Sports, Philippine Information Agency and the Department of Local
Government shall conduct a continuous information campaign for the public and a continuing
education and training for the medical and allied medical professions on drugs with generic
names as an alternative of equal efficacy to the more expensive brand name drugs. Such
educational campaign shall include information on the illnesses or symptoms which each
generically named drug is supposed to cure or alleviate, as well as its contraindications. The
Department of Health with the assistance of the Department of Local Government and the
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Philippine Information Agency shall monitor the progress of the education drive, and shall
submit regular reports to Congress.
Section 12. Penalty A) Any person who shall violate Section 6(a) or 6(b) of this Act shall
suffer the penalty graduated hereunder, viz:
(a) for the first conviction, he shall suffer the penalty of reprimand which shall be officially
recorded in the appropriate books of the Professional Regulation Commission.
(b) for the second conviction, the penalty of fine in the amount of not less than two
thousand pesos (P2,000.00) but not exceeding five thousand pesos (5,000.00) at the
discretion of the court.
(c) for the third conviction, the penalty of fine in the amount of not less than five
thousand pesos (P5,000.00) but not exceeding then thousand pesos (P10,000.00) and
suspension of his license to practice his profession for thirty (30) days at the discretion of
the court.
(d) for the fourth and subsequent convictions, the penalty of fine of not less than ten
thousand pesos (P10,000.00) and suspension of his license to practice his profession for
one year or longer at the discretion of the court.
B) Any juridical person who violates Section 6(c), 6(d), 7 or 8 shall suffer the penalty of a fine of
not less than five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) nor more than ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00)
and suspension or revocation of license to operate such drug establishment or drug outlet at the
discretion of the Court: Provided,That its officers directly responsible for the violation shall suffer
the penalty of fine and suspension or revocation of license to practice profession, if applicable,
and by imprisonment of not less than six (6) months nor more than one (1) year or both fine and
imprisonment at the discretion of the Court: and Provided, further, That if the guilty party is an
alien, he shall be ipso facto deported after service of sentence without need of further
proceedings. C) The Secretary of Health shall have the authority to impose administrative
sanctions such as suspension or cancellation of license to operate or recommend suspension of
license to practice profession to the Professional Regulation Commission as the case may be
for the violation of this Act. Section 13. Separability Clause If any provision of this Act is
declared invalid, the remainder or any provision hereof not affected thereby shall remain in force
and effect.
Section 14. Repealing Clause The provisions of any law, executive order, presidential
decree or other issuances inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.
Section 15. Effectivity This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete
publication in the Official Gazette or two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved: September 13, 1988
RA 8504 AIDS Prevention and Control Act

February 13, 1998
AN ACT PROMULGATING POLICIES AND PRESCRIBING MEASURES FOR THE

PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF HIV/AIDS IN THE PHILIPPINES, INSTITUTING A
NATIONWIDE HIV/AIDS INFORMATION AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, ESTABLISHING
A COMPREHENSIVE HIV/AIDS MONITORING SYSTEM, STRENGTHENING THE
PHILIPPINE NATIONAL AIDS COUNCIL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
assembled::
Section 1. Title. This Act shall be known as the "Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control
Act of 1998."
Section 2. Declaration of policies. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a
disease that recognizes no territorial, social, political and economic boundaries for which there
is no known cure. The gravity of the AIDS threat demands strong State action today, thus:
(a) The State shall promote public awareness about the causes, modes of transmission,
consequences, means of prevention and control of HIV/AIDS through a comprehensive
nationwide educational and information campaign organized and conducted by the
State. Such campaigns shall promote value formation and employ scientifically proven
approaches, focus on the family as a basic social unit, and be carried out in all schools
and training centers, workplaces, and communities. This program shall involve affected
individuals and groups, including people living with HIV/AIDS.
(b) The State shall extend to every person suspected or known to be infected with
HIV/AIDS full protection of his/her human rights and civil liberties. Towards this end:
(1) compulsory HIV testing shall be considered unlawful unless otherwise
provided in this Act;
(2) the right to privacy of individuals with HIV shall be guaranteed;
(3) discrimination, in all its forms and subtleties, against individuals with HIV or
persons perceived or suspected of having HIV shall be considered inimical to
individual and national interest; and
(4) provision of basic health and social services for individuals with HIV shall be
assured.
(c) The State shall promote utmost safety and universal precautions in practices and
procedures that carry the risk of HIV transmission.
(d) The State shall positively address and seek to eradicate conditions that aggravate
the spread of HIV infection, including but not limited to, poverty, gender inequality,
prostitution, marginalization, drug abuse and ignorance.
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(e) The State shall recognize the potential role of affected individuals in propagating vital
information and educational messages about HIV/AIDS and shall utilize their experience
to warn the public about the disease.
Section 3. Definition of terms. As used in this Act, the following terms are defined as
follows:
(a) "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)" a condition characterized by a
combination of signs and symptoms, caused by HIV contracted from another person and
which attacks and weakens the body's immune system, making the afflicted individual
susceptible to other life-threatening infections.
(b) "Anonymous Testing" refers to an HIV testing procedure whereby the individual
being tested does not reveal his/her true identity. An identifying number or symbol is
used to substitute for the name and allows the laboratory conducting the test and the
person on whom the test is conducted to match the test results with the identifying
number or symbol.
(c) "Compulsory HIV Testing" refers to HIV testing imposed upon a person attended or
characterized by the lack of or vitiated consent, use of physical force, intimidation or any
form of compulsion.
(d) "Contact tracing" refers to the method of finding and counselling the sexual
partner(s) of a person who has been diagnosed as having sexually transmitted disease.
(e) "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)" refers to the virus which causes AIDS.
(f) "HIV/AIDS Monitoring" refers to the documentation and analysis of the number of
HIV/AIDS infections and the pattern of its spread.
(g) "HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control" refers to measures aimed at protecting noninfected from contracting HIV and minimizing the impact of the condition of persons
living with HIV.
(h) "HIV-positive" refers to the presence of HIV infection as documented by the
presence of HIV or HIV antibodies in the sample being tested.
(i) "HIV-negative" denotes the absence of HIV or HIV antibodies upon HIV testing.
(j) "HIV Testing" refers to any laboratory procedure done on an individual to determine
the presence or absence of HIV infection.
(k) "HIV Transmission" refers to the transfer of HIV from one infected person to an
uninfected individual, most commonly through sexual intercourse, blood transfusion,
sharing of intravenous needles and during pregnancy.
(l) "High-Risk Behavior" refers to a person's frequent involvement in certain activities
which increase the risk of transmitting or acquiring HIV.
(m) "Informed Consent" refers to the voluntary agreement of a person to undergo or be

subjected to a procedure based on full information, whether such permission is written,
conveyed verbally, or expressed indirectly.
(n) "Medical Confidentiality" refers to the relationship of trust and confidence created or
existing between a patient or a person with HIV and his attending physician, consulting
medical specialist, nurse, medical technologist and all other health workers or personnel
involved in any counselling, testing or professional care of the former; it also applies to
any person who, in any official capacity, has acquired or may have acquired such
confidential information.
(o) "Person with HIV" refers to an individual whose HIV test indicates, directly or
indirectly, that he/she is infected with HIV.
(p) "Pre-Test Counselling" refers to the process of providing an individual information
on the biomedical aspects of HIV/AIDS and emotional support to any psychological
implications of undergoing HIV testing and the test result itself before he/she is
subjected to the test.
(q) "Post-Test Counselling" refers to the process of providing risk-reduction information
and emotional support to a person who submitted to HIV testing at the time that the test
result is released.
(r) "Prophylactic" refers to any agent or device used to prevent the transmission of a
disease.
(s) "Sexually Transmitted Diseases" refers to any disease that may be acquired or
passed on through sexual contact.
(t) "Voluntary HIV Testing" refers to HIV testing done on an individual who, after having
undergone pre-test counselling, willingly submits himself/herself to such test.
(u) "Window Period" refers to the period of time, usually lasting from two weeks to six
(6) months during which an infected individual will test "negative" upon HIV testing but
can actually transmit the infection.
ARTICLE I
EDUCATION AND INFORMATION
Sec. 4. HIV/AIDS education in schools. The Department of Education, Culture and Sports
(DECS), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and skills
Development Authority (TESDA), utilizing official information provided by the Department of
Health, shall integrate instruction on the causes, modes of transmission and ways of preventing
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases in subjects taught in public and private
schools at intermediate grades, secondary and tertiary levels, including non-formal and
indigenous learning systems: Provided, That if the integration of HIV/AIDS education is not
appropriate or feasible, the DECS and TESDA shall design special modules on HIV/AIDS
prevention and control: Provided, further, That it shall not be used as an excuse to propagate
birth control or the sale or distribution of birth control devices: Provided, finally, That it does not
utilize sexually explicit materials.
Flexibility in the formulation and adoption of appropriate course content, scope, and
methodology in each educational level or group shall be allowed after consultations with ParentTeachers-Community Associations, Private School Associations, school officials, and other
interest groups. As such, no instruction shall be offered to minors without adequate prior
consultation with parents who must agree to the thrust and content of the instruction materials.
All teachers and instructors of said HIV/AIDS courses shall be required to undergo a seminar or
training on HIV/AIDS prevention and control to be supervised by DECS, CHED and TESDA, in
coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), before they are allowed to teach on the
subject.
Section 5. HIV/AIDS information as a health service. HIV/AIDS education and information
dissemination shall form part of the delivery of health services by health practitioners, workers
and personnel. The knowledge and capabilities of all public health workers shall be enhanced to
include skills for proper information dissemination and education on HIV/AIDS. It shall likewise
be considered a civic duty of health providers in the private sector to make available to the
public such information necessary to control the spread of HIV/AIDS and to correct common
misconceptions about this disease. The training or health workers shall include discussions on
HIV-related ethical issues such as confidentiality, informed consent and the duty to provide
treatment.
Section 6. HIV/AIDS education in the workplace. All government and private employees,
workers, managers, and supervisors, including members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), shall be provided with the standardized basic
information and instruction on HIV/AIDS which shall include topics on confidentiality in the
workplace and attitude towards infected employees and workers. In collaboration with the
Department of Health (DOH), the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) shall oversee the anti-HIV/AIDS campaign in all private companies while the Armed
Forces Chief of Staff and the Director General of the PNP shall oversee the implementation of
this Sec.
Section 7. HIV/AIDS education for Filipinos going abroad. The State shall ensure that all
overseas Filipino workers and diplomatic, military, trade, and labor officials and personnel to be
assigned overseas shall undergo or attend a seminar on the cause, prevention and
consequences of HIV/AIDS before certification for overseas assignment. The Department of
Labor and Employment or the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Tourism and
the Department of Justice through the Bureau of Immigration, as the case may be, in
collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH), shall oversee the implementation of this
Sec.
Section 8. Information campaign for tourists and transients. Informational aids or
materials on the cause, modes of transmission, prevention, and consequences of HIV infection
shall be adequately provided at all international ports of entry and exit. The Department of
Tourism, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice through the Bureau of
Immigration, in collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH), shall oversee the
implementation of this Act.
Section 9. HIV/AIDS education in communities. Local government units, in collaboration
with the Department of Health (DOH), shall conduct an educational and information campaign
on HIV/AIDS. The provincial governor, city or municipal mayor and the barangay captain shall
9
coordinate such campaign among concerned government agencies, non-government

organizations and church-based groups.
Section 10. Information on prophylactics. Appropriate information shall be attached to or
provided with every prophylactic offered for sale or given as a donation. Such information shall
be legibly printed in English and Filipino, and contain literature on the proper use of the
prophylactic device or agent, its efficacy against HIV and STD infection, as well as the
importance of sexual abstinence and mutual fidelity.
Section 11. Penalties for misleading information. Misinformation on HIV/AIDS prevention
and control through false and misleading advertising and claims in any of the tri-media or the
promotional marketing of drugs, devices, agents or procedures without prior approval from the
Department of Health and the Bureau of Food and Drugs and the requisite medical and
scientific basis, including markings and indications in drugs and devises or agents, purporting to
be a cure or a fail-safe prophylactic for HIV infection is punishable with a penalty of
imprisonment for two (2) months to two (2) years, without prejudice to the imposition of
administrative sanctions such as fines and suspension or revocation of professional or business
license.
ARTICLE II
SAFE PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES
Sec. 12. Requirement on the donation of blood, tissue, or organ. No laboratory or
institution shall accept a donation of tissue or organ, whether such donation is gratuitous or
onerous, unless a sample from the donor has been tested negative for HIV. All donated blood
shall also be subjected to HIV testing and HIV(+) blood shall be disposed of properly and
immediately. A second testing may be demanded as a matter of right by the blood, tissue, or
organ recipient or his immediate relatives before transfusion or transplant, except during
emergency cases: Provided, That donations of blood, tissue, or organ testing positive for HIV
may be accepted for research purposes only, and subject to strict sanitary disposal
requirements.
Section 13. Guidelines on surgical and similar procedures. The Department of Health
(DOH), in consultation and in coordination with concerned professional organizations and
hospital associations, shall issue guidelines on precautions against HIV transmission during
surgical, dental, embalming, tattooing or similar procedures. The DOH shall likewise issue
guidelines on the handling and disposition of cadavers, body fluids or wastes of persons known
or believed to be HIV-positive.
The necessary protective equipment such as gloves, goggles and gowns, shall be made
available to all physicians and health care providers and similarly exposed personnel at all
times.
Section 14. Penalties for unsafe practices and procedures. Any person who knowingly or
negligently causes another to get infected with HIV in the course of the practice of his/her
profession through unsafe and unsanitary practice or procedure is liable to suffer a penalty of
imprisonment for six (6) years to twelve (12) years, without prejudice to the imposition of
administrative sanctions such as, but not limited to, fines and suspension or revocation of the
license to practice his/her profession. The permit or license of any business entity and the
accreditation of hospitals, laboratory, or clinics may be cancelled or withdrawn if said
10
establishments fail to maintain such safe practices and procedures as may be required by the
guidelines to be formulated in compliance with Sec. 13 of this Act.
ARTICLE III
TESTING, SCREENING AND COUNSELLING
Sec. 15. Consent as a requisite for HIV testing. No compulsory HIV testing shall be
allowed. However, the State shall encourage voluntary testing for individuals with a high risk for
contracting HIV: Provided, That written informed consent must first be obtained. Such consent
shall be obtained from the person concerned if he/she is of legal age or from the parents or
legal guardian in the case of a minor or a mentally incapacitated individual. Lawful consent to
HIV testing of a donated human body, organ, tissue, or blood shall be considered as having
been given when:
(a) a person volunteers or freely agrees to donate his/her blood, organ, or tissue for
transfusion, transplantation, or research;
(b) a person has executed a legacy in accordance with Sec. 3 of Republic Act No. 7170,
also known as the"Organ Donation Act of 1991";
(c) a donation is executed in accordance with Sec. 4 of Republic Act No. 7170.
Section 16. Prohibitions on compulsory HIV testing. Compulsory HIV testing as a
precondition to employment, admission to educational institutions, the exercise of freedom of
abode, entry or continued stay in the country, or the right to travel, the provision of medical
service or any other kind of service, or the continued enjoyment of said undertakings shall be
deemed unlawful.
Section 17. Exception to the prohibition on compulsory testing. Compulsory HIV testing
may be allowed only in the following instances:
a) When a person is charged with any of the crimes punishable under Articles 264 and
266 as amended by Republic Act No. 8353, 335 and 338 of Republic Act No. 3815,
otherwise known as the "Revised Penal Code"or under Republic Act No. 7659;
b) When the determination of the HIV status is necessary to resolve the relevant issues
under Executive Order No. 309, otherwise known as the "Family Code of the
Philippines"; and
c) When complying with the provisions of Republic Act No. 7170, otherwise known as
the "Organ Donation Act" and Republic Act No. 7719, otherwise known as the "National
Blood Services Act".
Section 18. Anonymous HIV testing. The State shall provide a mechanism for anonymous
HIV testing and shall guarantee anonymity and medical confidentiality in the conduct of such
tests.
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Section 19. Accreditation of HIV Testing Centers. All testing centers, hospitals, clinics, and
laboratories offering HIV testing services are mandated to seek accreditation from the
Department of Health which shall set and maintain reasonable accreditation standards.
Section 20. Pre-test and post-test counselling. All testing centers, clinics, or laboratories
which perform any HIV test shall be required to provide and conduct free pre-test counselling
and post-test counselling for persons who avail of their HIV/AIDS testing services. However,
such counselling services must be provided only by persons who meet the standards set by the
DOH.
Section 21. Support for HIV Testing Centers. The Department of Health shall strategically
build and enhance the capabilities for HIV testing of hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and other
testing centers primarily, by ensuring the training of competent personnel who will provide such
services in said testing sites.
ARTICLE IV
HEALTH AND SUPPORT SERVICES
Sec. 22. Hospital-based services. Persons with HIV/AIDS shall be afforded basic health
services in all government hospitals, without prejudice to optimum medical care which may be
provided by special AIDS wards and hospitals.
Section 23. Community-based services. Local government units, in coordination and in
cooperation with concerned government agencies, non-government organizations, persons with
HIV/AIDS and groups most at risk of HIV infection shall provide community-based HIV/AIDS
prevention and care services.
Section 24. Livelihood programs and trainings. Trainings for livelihood, self-help
cooperative programs shall be made accessible and available to all persons with HIV/AIDS.
Persons infected with HIV/AIDS shall not be deprived of full participation in any livelihood, selfhelp and cooperative programs for reason of their health conditions.
Section 25. Control of sexually transmitted diseases. The Department of Health, in
coordination and in cooperation with concerned government agencies and non-government
organizations shall pursue the prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases to help
contain the spread of HIV infection.
Section 26. Insurance for persons with HIV. The Secretary of Health, in cooperation with
the Commissioner of the Insurance Commission and other public and private insurance
agencies, shall conduct a study on the feasibility and viability of setting up a package of
insurance benefits and, should such study warrant it, implement an insurance coverage
program for persons with HIV. The study shall be guided by the principle that access to health
insurance is part of an individual's right to health and is the responsibility of the State and of
society as a whole.
ARTICLE V
MONITORING
Sec. 27. Monitoring program. A comprehensive HIV/AIDS monitoring program
or "AIDSWATCH" shall be established under the Department of Health to determine and
12
monitor the magnitude and progression of HIV infection in the Philippines, and for the purpose
of evaluating the adequacy and efficacy of the countermeasures being employed.
Section 28. Reporting procedures. All hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and testing centers for
HIV/AIDS shall adopt measures in assuring the reporting and confidentiality of any medical
record, personal data, file, including all data which may be accessed from various data banks or
information systems. The Department of Health through its AIDSWATCH monitoring program
shall receive, collate and evaluate all HIV/AIDS related medical reports. The AIDSWATCH data
base shall utilize a coding system that promotes client anonymity.
Section 29. Contact tracing. HIV/AIDS contact tracing and all other related health
intelligence activities may be pursued by the Department of Health: Provided, That these do not
run counter to the general purpose of this Act:Provided, further, That any information gathered
shall remain confidential and classified, and can only be used for statistical and monitoring
purposes and not as basis or qualification for any employment, school attendance, freedom of
abode, or travel.
ARTICLE VI
CONFIDENTIALITY
Sec. 30. Medical confidentiality. All health professionals, medical instructors, workers,
employers, recruitment agencies, insurance companies, data encoders, and other custodians of
any medical record, file, data, or test results are directed to strictly observe confidentiality in the
handling of all medical information, particularly the identity and status of persons with HIV.
Section 31. Exceptions to the mandate of confidentiality. Medical confidentiality shall not
be considered breached in the following cases:
(a) when complying with reportorial requirements in conjunction with the AIDSWATCH
programs provided in Sec. 27 of this Act;
(b) when informing other health workers directly involved or about to be involved in the
treatment or care of a person with HIV/AIDS: Provided, That such treatment or care
carry the risk of HIV transmission: Provided, further, That such workers shall be obliged
to maintain the shared medical confidentiality;
(c) when responding to a subpoena duces tecum and subpoena ad testificandum issued
by a Court with jurisdiction over a legal proceeding where the main issue is the HIV
status of an individual: Provided, That the confidential medical record shall be properly
sealed by its lawful custodian after being double-checked for accuracy by the head of
the office or department, hand delivered, and personally opened by the judge:Provided,
further, That the judicial proceedings be held in executive session.
Section 32. Release of HIV/AIDS test results. All results of HIV/AIDS testing shall be
confidential and shall be released only to the following persons:
(a) the person who submitted himself/herself to such test;
(b) either parent of a minor child who has been tested;
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(c) a legal guardian in the case of insane persons or orphans;

(d) a person authorized to receive such results in conjunction with the AIDSWATCH
program as provided in Sec. 27 of this Act;
(e) a justice of the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, as provided under subSec.
(c) of this Act and in accordance with the provision of Sec. 16 hereof.
Section 33. Penalties for violations of confidentiality. Any violation of medical
confidentiality as provided in Sec.s 30 and 32 of this Act shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment
for six (6) months to four (4) years, without prejudice to administrative sanctions such as fines
and suspension or revocation of the violator's license to practice his/her profession, as well as
the cancellation or withdrawal of the license to operate any business entity and the accreditation
of hospitals, laboratories or clinics.
Section 34. Disclosure to sexual partners. Any person with HIV is obliged to disclose
his/her HIV status and health condition to his/her spouse or sexual partner at the earliest
opportune time.
ARTICLE VII
DISCRIMINATORY ACTS AND POLICIES
Sec. 35. Discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination in any form from pre-employment
to post-employment, including hiring, promotion or assignment, based on the actual, perceived
or suspected HIV status of an individual is prohibited. Termination from work on the sole basis
of actual, perceived or suspected HIV status is deemed unlawful.
Section 36. Discrimination in schools. No educational institution shall refuse admission or
expel, discipline, segregate, deny participation, benefits or services to a student or prospective
student on the basis of his/her actual, perceived or suspected HIV status.
Section 37. Restrictions on travel and habitation. The freedom of abode, lodging and
travel of a person with HIV shall not be abridged. No person shall be quarantined, placed in
isolation, or refused lawful entry into or deported from Philippine territory on account of his/her
actual, perceived or suspected HIV status.
Section 38. Inhibition from public service. The right to seek an elective or appointive public
office shall not be denied to a person with HIV.
Section 39. Exclusion from credit and insurance services. All credit and loan services,
including health, accident and life insurance shall not be denied to a person on the basis of
his/her actual, perceived or suspected HIV status: Provided, That the person with HIV has not
concealed or misrepresented the fact to the insurance company upon application. Extension
and continuation of credit and loan shall likewise not be denied solely on the basis of said health
condition.
Section 40. Discrimination in hospitals and health institutions. No person shall be denied
health care service or be charged with a higher fee on account of actual, perceived or
suspected HIV status.
14
Section 41. Denial of burial services. A deceased person who had AIDS or who was known,
suspected or perceived to be HIV-positive shall not be denied any kind of decent burial services.
Section 42. Penalties for discriminatory acts and policies. All discriminatory acts and
policies referred to in this Act shall be punishable with a penalty of imprisonment for six (6)
months to four (4) years and a fine not exceeding Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00). In
addition, licenses/permits of schools, hospitals and other institutions found guilty of committing
discriminatory acts and policies described in this Act shall be revoked.
ARTICLE VIII
THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL AIDS COUNCIL
Sec. 43. Establishment. The Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) created by virtue of
Executive Order No. 39 dated 3 December 1992 shall be reconstituted and strengthened to
enable the Council to oversee an integrated and comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS
prevention and control in the Philippines. It shall be attached to the Department of Health.
Section 44. Functions. The Council shall be the central advisory, planning and policy-making
body for the comprehensive and integrated HIV/AIDS prevention and control program in the
Philippines. The Council shall perform the following functions:
(a) Secure from government agencies concerned recommendations on how their
respective agencies could operationalize specific provisions of this Act. The Council
shall integrate and coordinate such recommendations and issue implementing rules and
regulations of this Act. The Council shall likewise ensure that there is adequate coverage
of the following:
(1) The institution of a nationwide HIV/AIDS information and education program;
(2) The establishment of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS monitoring system;
(3) The issuance of guidelines on medical and other practices and procedures
that carry the risk of HIV transmission;
(4) The provision of accessible and affordable HIV testing and counselling
services to those who are in need of it;
(5) The provision of acceptable health and support services for persons with
HIV/AIDS in hospitals and in communities;
(6) The protection and promotion of the rights of individuals with HIV; and
(7) The strict observance of medical confidentiality.
(b) Monitor the implementation of the rules and regulations of this Act, issue or cause the
issuance of orders or make recommendations to the implementing agencies as the
Council considers appropriate;
15
(c) Develop a comprehensive long-term national HIV/AIDS prevention and control

program and monitor its implementation;
(d) Coordinate the activities of and strengthen working relationships between
government and non-government agencies involved in the campaign against HIV/AIDS;
(e) Coordinate and cooperate with foreign and international organizations regarding data
collection, research and treatment modalities concerning HIV/AIDS; and
(f) Evaluate the adequacy of and make recommendations regarding the utilization of
national resources for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in the Philippines.
Section 45. Membership and composition. (a) The Council shall be composed of twenty-six
(26) members as follows:
(1) The Secretary of the Department of Health;
(2) The Secretary of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports or his
representative;
(3) The Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education or his representative;
(4) The Director-General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or
his representative;
(5) The Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment or his representative;
(6) The Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development or his
representative;
(7) The Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government or his
representative;
(8) The Secretary of the Department of Justice or his representative;
(9) The Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority or his
representative;
(10) The Secretary of the Department of Tourism or his representative;
(11) The Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management or his representative;
(12) The Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs or his representative;
(13) The Head of the Philippine Information Agency or his representative;
(14) The President of the League of Governors or his representative;
(15) The President of the League of City Mayors or his representative;
16
(16) The Chairperson of the Committee on Health of the Senate of the Philippines or his
representative;
(17) The Chairperson of the Committee on Health of the House of Representatives or his
representative;
(18) Two (2) representatives from organizations of medical/health professionals;
(19) Six (6) representatives from non-government organizations involved in HIV/AIDS
prevention and control efforts or activities; and
(20) A representative of an organization of persons dealing with HIV/AIDS.
(b) To the greatest extent possible, appointment to the Council must ensure sufficient and
discernible representation from the fields of medicine, education, health care, law, labor, ethics
and social services;
(c) All members of the Council shall be appointed by the President of the Republic of the
Philippines, except for the representatives of the Senate and the House of Representatives,
who shall be appointed by the Senate President and the House Speaker, respectively;
(d) The members of the Council shall be appointed not later than thirty (30) days after the date
of the enactment of this Act;
(e) The Secretary of Health shall be the permanent chairperson of the Council; however, the
vice-chairperson shall be elected by its members from among themselves, and shall serve for a
term of two (2) years; and
(f) For members representing medical/health professional groups and the six (6) nongovernment organizations, they shall serve for a term of two (2) years, renewable upon
recommendation of the Council.
Section 46. Reports. The Council shall submit to the President and to both Houses of
Congress comprehensive annual reports on the activities and accomplishments of the Council.
Such annual reports shall contain assessments and evaluation of intervention programs, plans
and strategies for the medium- and long-term prevention and control program on HIV/AIDS in
the Philippines.
Section 47. Creation of Special HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Service. There shall be
created in the Department of Health a Special HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Service staffed
by qualified medical specialists and support staff with permanent appointment and supported
with an adequate yearly budget. It shall implement programs on HIV/AIDS prevention and
control. In addition, it shall also serve as the secretariat of the Council.
Section 48. Appropriations. The amount of Twenty million pesos (P20,000,000.00) shall be
initially appropriated out of the funds of the National Treasury. Subsequent appropriations shall
be provided by Congress in the annual budget of the Department of Health under the General
Appropriations Act.
17
ARTICLE IX
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 49. Implementing rules and regulations. Within six (6) months after it is fully
reconstituted, the Council shall formulate and issue the appropriate rules and regulations
necessary for the implementation of this Act.
Section 50. Separability clause. If any provision of this Act is declared invalid, the remainder
of this Act or any provision not affected thereby shall remain in force and effect.
Section 51. Repealing clause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders and their
implementing rules inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or
modified accordingly.
Section 52. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at
least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
Approved: February 13, 1998
18
Act 3753 Issuance of Birth and Death Certificate

Commonwealth Act No. 3753
Law on Registry of Civil Status
Section 1. Civil Register. A civil register is established for recording the civil status of
persons, in which shall be entered: (a) births; (b) deaths; (c) marriages; (d) annulments of
marriages; (e) divorces; (f) legitimations; (g) adoptions; (h) acknowledgment of natural children;
(i) naturalization; and (j) changes of name.
Section 2. Civil Registrar-General his duties and powers. The director of the National
Library shall be Civil Registrar-General and shall enforce the provisions of this Act. The Director
of the National Library, in his capacity as Civil Registrar-General, is hereby authorized to
prepare and issue, with the approval of the Secretary of Justice, regulations for carrying out the
purposes of this Act, and to prepare and order printed the necessary forms for its proper
compliance. In the exercise of his functions as Civil Registrar-General, the Director of the
National Library shall have the power to give orders and instructions to the local Civil registrars
with reference to the performance of their duties as such. It shall be the duty of the Director of
the National Library to report any violation of the provisions of this Act and all irregularities,
negligence or incompetency on the part of the officers designated as local civil registrars to the
(Chief of the Executive Bureau or the Director of the Non-Christian Tribes) Secretary of the
Interior, as the case may be, who shall take the proper disciplinary action against the offenders.
Section 3. Local Civil Registrars. Except in the City of Manila, where the duties of local civil
registrar shall be performed by the officer of the Philippine Health Service designated by the
Director of said service, the Treasurers of the regular municipalities, municipal districts and
cities shall be local civil registrars of the respective municipalities, municipal districts or cities
and shall perform the duties imposed upon them by this Act without extra compensation, in
addition to their ordinary duties. In his capacity as local civil registrar, the officer designated by
the Director of the Health Service as local civil registrar of Manila and the treasurers above
mentioned shall be under the direction and supervision of the Civil Registrar-General.
Section 4. Civil Register Books. The local registrars shall keep and preserve in their offices
the following books, in which they shall, respectively make the proper entries concerning the
civil status of persons:
1. Birth and death register;
2. Marriage register, in which shall be entered not only the marriages solemnized but also
divorces and dissolved marriages
3. Legitimation, acknowledgment, adoption, change of name and naturalization register.
Section 5. Registration and Certification of Birth. The declaration of the physician or
midwife in attendance at the birth or, in default thereof, the declaration of either parent of the
newborn child, shall be sufficient for the registration of a birth in the civil register. Such
declaration shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax and shall be sent to the local civil
registrar not later than thirty days after the birth, by the physician, or midwife in attendance at
19
the
birth
or
by
either
parent
of
the
newly
born
child.
In such declaration, the persons above mentioned shall certify to the following facts: (a) date
and hour of birth; (b) sex and nationality of infant; (c) names, citizenship, and religion of parents
or, in case the father is not known, of the mother alone; (d) civil status of parents; (e) place
where the infant was born; (f) and such other data may be required in the regulation to be
issued.
In the case of an exposed child, the person who found the same shall report to the local civil
registrar the place, date and hour of finding and other attendant circumstances.
In case of an illegitimate child, the birth certificate shall be signed and sworn to jointly by the
parents of the infant or only the mother if the father refuses. In the latter case, it shall not be
permissible to state or reveal in the document the name of the father who refuses to
acknowledge the child, or to give therein any information by which such father could be
identified.
Any fetus having human features which dies after twenty four hours of existence completely
disengaged from the maternal womb shall be entered in the proper registers as having been
born and having died.
Section 6. Death certificate and register. No human body shall be buried unless the proper
death certificate has been presented and recorded in the office of the local civil registrar. The
physician who attended the deceased or, in his default the health officer concerned, or in default
of the latter, any member of the family of the deceased or any person having knowledge of the
death, shall report the same to the local health authorities, who shall issue a death certificate
and shall order the same to be recorded in the office of the local civil registrar. The death
certificate, which shall be issued by the attending physician of the deceased or, in his default, by
the proper health officer, shall contain the following data be furnished by the person reporting
the death; (a) date and place of death; (b) full name, (c) age, (d) sex, (e) occupation or
profession, (f) residence; (g) status as regards marriage, (h) nationality of the deceased, and (i)
probable cause of death.
During epidemics, bodies may be buried provided the proper death certificates have been
secured, which shall be registered not later than five days after the burial of the body.
Section 7. Registration of marriages. All civil officers and priests or ministers authorized to
solemnize marriages shall send a copy of each marriage contract solemnized by them to the
local civil registrar within the time limit specified in the existing Marriage Law.
In cases of divorce and annulment of marriage, it shall be the duty of the successful petitioner
for divorce or annulment of marriage to send a copy of the final decree of the court to that local
civil registrar of the municipality where the dissolved or annulled marriage was solemnized.
In the marriage register there shall be entered the full name and address of each of the
contracting parties, their ages, the place and date of the solemnization of the marriage, the
names and addresses of the witnesses, the full name, address, and relationship of the minor
contracting party or parties or the person or persons who gave their consent to the marriage,
and the full name, title, and address of the person who solemnized the marriage.
20
In cases of divorce or annulment of marriages, there shall be recorded the names of the parties
divorced or whose marriage was annulled, the date of the decree of the court, and such other
details as the regulations to be issued may require.
Section 8. Registration of legitimations by subsequent marriage. The acknowledgment of
the children legitimated by subsequent marriage, referred to in article one hundred and twentyone of the Civil Code, may be recorded in the legitimation register, entering: (a) The names of
the parents; (b) that at the time when the children were conceived, the aforesaid parents could
have contracted marriage, and that they actually contracted marriage, stating the date and place
when such marriage was solemnized, the minister who officiated, and the civil register where
such marriage was recorded; (c) the names of the children legitimated with reference to their
birth certificates.
Section 9. Registration of acknowledgment by public instrument. Any voluntary
acknowledgment by the natural parents or by only one of them by public instrument, shall be
recorded in the acknowledgment register of the civil registrar of the municipality where the
decree was issued. The names of the interested parties and such other data as may be required
by the regulations to be issued shall be entered in register.
It shall be the duty of the natural parents whose voluntary acknowledgment was may be means
of a public instrument to send a certified copy thereof to the local civil registrar of the
municipality in the civil register whereof the birth of the acknowledged child was recorded, not
later than twenty days after the execution of such instrument, for the registration thereof.
Section 10. Registrations of adoptions, changes of name, and naturalization. In cases of
adoptions, changes of name, and naturalization, it shall be the duty of the interested parties or
petitioners to register the same in the local civil registrar of the municipality where the birth of
the acknowledged child was registered setting forth the following data: (a) full name of the
natural child acknowledged; (b) age; (c) date and place of birth; (d) status as to marriage, and
residence of the child acknowledged; (e) full name of the natural father or mother who makes
the acknowledgment; (f) full name of the notary public before whom the document was
acknowledged; (g) full names of witnesses to document; (h) date and place of acknowledgment
of said document and entry and page number of the notarial register in which the name was
recorded.
Section 11. Duties of clerks of Court to register certain decisions. In cases of
legitimation, acknowledgment, adoption, naturalization and change of given or family name, or
both, upon the decree which issued the decree to ascertain whether the same has been
registered, and if this has not been done, to have said decree recorded in the office of the civil
registrar of the municipality where the court is functioning.
Section 12. Duties of local civil registrar. Local civil registrars shall (a) file registrable
certificates and documents presented to them for entry; (b) complete the same monthly and
prepare and send any information required of them by the Civil Registrar-General; (c) issue
certified transcripts or copies of any certificate or document registered upon payment of proper
fees; (d) order the binding, properly classified, of all certificates or documents registered during
the year; (e) send to the Civil Registrar-General, during the first ten days of each month, a copy
of the entries made during the preceding month for filing; (f) index the same to facilitate search
and identification in case any information is required, and (g) administer oaths, free of charge,
for civil register purposes.
21
Section 13. Documents registered are public documents. The books making up the civil
register and all documents relating thereto shall be considered public documents and be prima
facie evidence of the truth of the facts therein contained. They shall be open to the public during
office hours and shall be kept in a suitable safe which shall be furnished to the local civil
registrar at the expense of the general fund of the municipality concerned. The local registrar
shall not under any circumstances permit any document entrusted to his care to be removed
from his office, except by order of a court, in which case the proper receipt shall be taken. The
local civil registrar may issue certified copies of any document filed, upon payment of the proper
fees required in this Act.
Section 14. Expenses and fees of the office of the civil registrar. All expenses in
connection with the establishment of local civil registers shall be paid out of municipal funds,
and for this purpose, municipal councils and boards shall make the necessary appropriation out
of their available general funds:
For the registration of documents and for certified copies of documents on file in the local civil
registrars office, fees shall be charged in accordance with the following schedule:
For registration of legitimations P2.00
For registration of an adoption 2.00
For registration of an annulment of marriage 10.00
For registration of a divorce 10.00
For registration of naturalization 20.00
For registration of a change of name 2.00
For certified copies of any documents in the register, for each one hundred words 20.00
The Civil Registrar General or any local civil registrar may issue certified copies of documents
free of charge for official use or at the request of a competent court. All fees collected for such
purposes shall accrue to the general fund of the municipality concerned.
Section 15. Preservation of present register books. All birth, death and marriage registers
and other papers relating thereto at present in the keeping of the municipal secretaries or the
clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila shall be transferred by the same to the officers acting as
local civil registrars in each city or municipality and shall form part of the archives of the latter.
Section 16. False statement. Any person who shall knowingly make false statement in the
forms furnished and shall present the same for entry in the civil register, shall be punished by
imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than six months, or by a fine of not less than
two hundred pesos nor more than five hundred or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 17. Failure to report. Other violations. Any person whose duty is to report any fact
concerning the civil status of persons and who knowingly fails to perform such duty, and any
person convicted of having violated any of the provisions of this Act shall be punished by a fine
of not less than ten pesos nor more than two hundred.
22
Section 18. Neglect of duty with reference to the provisions of this Act. Any local
registrar who fails properly to perform his duties in accordance with the provisions of this Act
and of the regulations issued hereunder, shall be punished for the first offense, by an
administrative fine in a sum equal to his salary for not less than fifteen days nor more than three
months, and for a second or repeated offense, by removal from the service.
Section 19. Application of this Act to the special provinces. The Director of the National
Library, in his capacity as Civil Registrar-General, is hereby authorized upon recommendation of
the (Director of Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes) Secretary of the Interior, to designate the
municipalities in the specially organized provinces where the provisions of this Act shall be
applied.
Section 20. Transitory provisions. All rights, duties and powers established by Act
Numbered thirty-six hundred and thirteen, entitled the Marriage Law, with the reference to the
procedure for the issuance of the marriage license prior to the solemnization of marriage, the
registration, of marriages, and the filing of the documents in connection therewith, conferred and
imposed by said Act upon the clerk of the Municipal Court of Manila and the municipal
secretaries, are hereby transferred to the officer of the Health Service in accordance with
section three of this Act, and to the municipal treasurers, respectively, in their capacity as local
registrars.
All duties and powers established by subsections (d) and (e) of section twenty-one hundred and
twelve of the Administrative Code, imposed and conferred by said section upon the municipal
secretaries, are hereby likewise transferred to the municipal treasurers in their capacity as local
civil registrars.
Section 21. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Section 22. This Act shall take effect three months after its approval.
Approved, November 26, 1930.
23
Act 3573 Law on Reporting Communicable Disease
24
RA 9275 Expanded Senior Citizens Act
February 26, 2004
AN ACT GRANTING ADDITIONAL BENEFITS AND PRIVILEGES TO SENIOR CITIZENS

AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7432, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS "AN
ACT TO MAXIMIZE THE CONTRIBUTION OF SENIOR CITIZENS TO NATION BUILDING,
GRANT BENEFITS AND SPECIAL PRIVILEGES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES"
assembled:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2003."
SECTION 2. Republic Act. No. 7432 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SECTION 1. Declaration of Policies and Objectives. Pursuant to Article XV, Section 4
of the Constitution, it is the duty of the family to take care of its elderly members while
the State may design programs of social security for them. In addition to this, Section 10
in the Declaration of Principles and State Policies provides: "The State shall provide
social justice in all phases of national development." Further, Article XIII, Section 11
provides: " The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health
and other social services available to all the people at affordable cost. There shall be
priority for the needs of the underpriviledged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and
children." Consonant with these constitution principles the following are the declared
policies of this Act:
(a) To motivate and encourage the senior citizens to contribute to nation building;
(b) To encourage their families and the communities they live with to reaffirm the
valued Filipino tradition of caring for the senior citizens;
(c) To give full support to the improvement of the total well-being of the elderly
and their full participation in society considering that senior citizens are integral
part of Philippine society;
(d) To recognize the rights of senior citizens to take their proper place in society.
This must be the concern of the family, community, and government;
(e) To provide a comprehensive health care and rehabilitation system for
disabled senior citizens to foster their capacity to attain a more meaningful and
productive ageing; and
(f) To recognize the important role of the private sector in the improvement of the
welfare of senior citizens and to actively seek their partnership.
In accordance with these policies, this Act aims to:
25
(1) establish mechanism whereby the contribution of the senior citizens

are maximized;
(2) adopt measures whereby our senior citizens are assisted and
appreciated by the community as a whole;
(3) establish a program beneficial to the senior citizens, their families and
the rest of the community that they serve; and
(4) establish community-based health and rehabilitation programs in
every political unit of society."
"SEC. 2. Definition of Terms. For purposes of this Act, these terms are defined as
follows:
(a) "Senior citizen" or "elderly" shall mean any resident citizen of the Philippines
at least sixty (60) years old;
(b) "Benefactor" shall mean any person whether related to the senior citizens or
not who takes care of him/her as a dependent;
(c) "Head of the family" shall mean any person so defined in the National Internal
Revenue Code, as amended; and
(d) "Geriatrics" shall refer to the branch of medical science devoted to the study
of the biological and physical changes and the diseases of old age."
"SEC. 3. Contribution to the Community. Any qualified senior citizen as determined by
the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) may render his/her services to the
community which shall consist of, but not limited to, any of the following:
(a) Tutorial and/or consultancy services;
(b) Actual teaching and demonstration of hobbies and income generating skills;
(c) Lectures on specialized fields like agriculture, health, environment protection
and the like;
(d) The transfer of new skills acquired by virtue of their training mentioned in
Section 4, paragraph (d); and
(e) Undertaking other appropriate services as determined by the Office for Senior
Citizens Affairs (OSCA) such as school traffic guide, tourist aide, pre-school
assistant, etc.
In consideration of the services rendered by the qualified elderly, the Office for Senior
Citizens Affairs (OSCA) may award or grant benefits or privileges to the elderly, in
addition to the other privileges provided for under this Act."
26
"SEC. 4. Privileges for the Senior Citizens. The senior citizens shall be entitled to the
following:
(a) the grant of twenty percent (20%) discount from all establishments relative to
the utilization of services in hotels and similar lodging establishment, restaurants
and recreation centers, and purchase of medicines in all establishments for the
exclusive use or enjoyment of senior citizens, including funeral and burial
services for the death of senior citizens;
(b) a minimum of twenty percent (20%) discount on admission fees charged by
theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, carnivals, and other similar
places of culture, leisure and amusement for the exclusive use or enjoyment of
senior citizens;
(c. exemption from the payment of individual income taxes: Provided, That their
annual taxable income does not exceed the poverty level as determined by the
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for that year;
(d) exemption from training fees for socioeconomic programs;
(e) free medical and dental service, diagnostic and laboratory fees such as, but
not limited to, x-rays, computerized tomography scans and blood tests, in all
government facilities, subject to the guidelines to be issued by the Department of
Health in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation
(PHILHEALTH);
(f) the grant of twenty percent (20%) discount on medical and dental services,
and diagnostic and laboratory fees provided under Section 4 (e) hereof, including
professional fees of attending doctors in all private hospitals and medical
facilities, in accordance with the rules and regulations to be issued by the
Department of Health, in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance
Corporation;
(g) the grant of twenty percent (20%) discount in fare for domestic air and sea
travel for the exclusive use or enjoyment of senior citizens;
(h) the grant of twenty percent (20%) discount in public railways, skyways and
bus fare for the exclusive use and enjoyment of senior citizens;
(i) educational assistance to senior citizens to pursue post secondary, tertiary,
post tertiary, as well as vocational or technical education in both public and
private schools through provision of scholarship, grants, financial aid subsidies
and other incentives to qualified senior citizens, including support for books,
learning materials, and uniform allowance, to the extent feasible: Provided, That
senior citizens shall meet minimum admission requirement;
(j) to the extent practicable and feasible, the continuance of the same benefits
and privileges given by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS),
Social Security System (SSS) and PAG-IBIG, as the case may be, as are
enjoyed by those in actual service.
27
(k) retirement benefits of retirees from both the government and private sector
shall be regularly reviewed to ensure their continuing responsiveness and
sustainability, and to the extent practicable and feasible, shall be upgraded to be
at par with the current scale enjoyed by those in actual service.
(l) to the extent possible, the government may grant special discounts in special
programs for senior citizens on purchase of basic commodities, subject to the
guidelines to be issued for the purpose by the Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA); and
(m) provision of express lanes for senior citizens in all commercial and
government establishments; in the absence thereof, priority shall be given to
them.
In the availment of the privileges mentioned above, the senior citizen or elderly person
may submit as proof of his/her entitlement thereto any of the following:
(a) an ID issued by the city or municipal mayor or of the barangay captain of the
place where the senior citizen or the elderly resides;
(b) the passport of the elderly person or senior citizen concerned; and
(c) other documents that establish that the senior citizen or elderly person is a
citizen of the Republic and is at least sixty (60) years of age.
The establishment may claim the discounts granted under (a), (f), (g) and (h) as tax
deduction based on the net cost of the goods sold or services rendered: Provided That
the cost of the discount shall be allowed as deduction from gross income for the same
taxable year that the discount is granted. Provided, further, That the total amount of the
claimed tax deduction net of value added tax if applicable, shall be included in their
gross sales receipts for tax purposes and shall be subject to proper documentation and
to the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended."
"SEC. 5. Government Assistance. The Government shall provided the following:
(a) Employment
Senior citizens who have the capacity and desire to work, or be re-employed,
shall be provided information and matching services to enable them to be
productive members of society. Terms of employments shall conform with the
provisions of the labor code, as amended, and other laws, rules and regulations.
Private entities that will employ senior citizens as employees upon effectivity of
this Act, shall be entitled to an additional deduction from their gross income,
equivalent to fifteen percent (15%) of the total amount paid as salaries and
wages to senior citizens subject to the provision of Section 34 of the National
Internal Revenue Code, as
28
amended: Provided, however, That such employment shall continue for a period
of at least six (6) months: Provider, further, that the annual income of a senior
citizen does not exceed he poverty level as determined by the National Economic
and Development Authority (NEDA) for that year.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in coordination with other
government agencies such as, but not limited to, the Technology and Livelihood
Resource Center (TLRC) and the Department and Trade and Industry (DTI),
shall assess, design and implement training programs that will provide skills and
welfare or livelihood support for senior citizens.
(b) Education
The Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skill
Development Authority (TESDA) and the Commission and Higher Education
(CHED), in consultation of non-government organizations (NGOs) and people's
organizations (Pos) for senior citizen, shall institute a program that will ensure
access to formal and non-formal education.
(c ) Health
The Department of Health (DOH), in coordination with local government units
(LGUs), non-government organizations (NGOs) and people's organizations (Pos)
for senior citizens, shall institute a national health program and shall provide an
integrated health service for senior citizens. It shall train community-based health
workers among senior citizens and health personnel to specialize in the geriatric
care health problems of senior citizens.
(d) Social Services
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in cooperation
with the Office for Senior Citizen affairs (OSCA) and the local government units,
non-government organizations and peoples organizations for senior citizens,
shall develop and implement programs on social services for senior citizens, the
components of which are:
(1) "self and social enhancement services" which provide senior citizens
opportunities for socializing, organizing, creative expression, and
improvement of self;
(2)" after care and follow-up services" which provide senior citizen who
are discharged from the home/institutions for the aged, especially those
who have problems of reintegration with family and community, wherein
both the senior citizens and their families are provided with counseling;
(3)"neighborhood support services: wherein the community/family
members provide care giving services to their frail, sick, or bedridden
senior citizens; and
(4) "substitute family care" in the form of residential care/group homes for
29
the abandoned, neglected, unattached or homeless senior citizens and

those incapable of self-care.
The grant of at least fifty percent (50%) discount for the consumption of
electricity, water and telephone by the senior citizens center and
residential care/group homes that are non-stock, non-profit domestic
corporation organized and operated exclusively for the purpose of
promoting of well-being of abandoned, neglected, unattached, or
homeless senior citizens.
(e) Housing
The national government shall include in its national shelter program the special
housing needs of senior citizens, such as establishment of housing units for the
elderly;
(f) Access to Public Transport
The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) shall develop a
program to assist senior citizens to fully gain access in the use of public transport
facilities.
Further, the government shall provide the following assistance to those caring for
and living with the senior citizens:
(a)The senior citizen shall be treated as dependents provided for in the National
Inter Revenue Code, as amended, and as such, individual taxpayers caring for
them, be they relatives or not shall be accorded the privileges granted by the
Code insofar as having dependents are concerned.
(b)Individuals or non-government institutions establishing homes, residential
communities or retirement villages solely for the senior citizens shall be accorded
the following:
(1) realty tax holiday for the first five (5) years starting from the first year
of operation;
(2) priority in the building and/or maintenance of the provincial or
municipal roads leading to the aforesaid home, residential community or
retirement village."
"SEC. 6. The Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA). There shall be established in
all cities and municipalities an OSCA to be headed by a senior citizen who shall be
appointed by the mayor for
a term of three (3) years without reappointment from a list of three (3) nominees of the
sangguniang panlungsod or the sangguniang bayan. The head of the OSCA shall be
assisted by the City Social Welfare and Development Officer or the municipal social
30
welfare and development officer, in coordination with the Social Welfare and
Development Office.
The Office of the Mayor shall exercise supervision over the OSCA relative to their plans,
activities and programs for senior citizens. The OSCA shall work together and establish
linkages with accredited NGOs, Pos, and the barangays in their respective areas.
The office for senior citizens affairs shall have the following functions:
(a) To plan, implement and monitor yearly work programs in pursuance of the
objectives of this Act;
(b) To draw up a list of available and required services which can provided by the
senior citizens;
(c) To maintain and regularly update on a quarterly basis the list of senior citizens
and to issue nationally uniform individual identification cards, free of charge,
which be valid anywhere in the country;
(d) To service as a general information and liaison center to serve the needs of
the senior citizens;
(e) To monitor compliance of the provisions of this Act particularly the grant of
special discounts and privileges to senior citizens;
(f) To report to the mayor, establishment found violating any provision of this Act;
and
(g) To assist the senior citizens in filing complaints or charges against any
establishment, institution, or agency refusing to comply with the privileges under
this Act before the Department of Justice or the provincial, city or municipal trial
court."
"SEC. 7. Municipal/ City Responsibility. It shall be the responsibility of the
municipal/city through the mayor to require all establishment covered by this Act to
prominently display posters, stickers, and other notices that will generate public
awareness of the right and privileges of senior citizens and to ensure that the provisions
of this Act are implemented to its fullest."
"SEC. 8. Partnership of the National and Local Government Units. The national
government and local government units shall explore livelihood opportunities and other
undertaking to enhance the well-being of senior citizens. The shall encourage the
establishment of grassroots organizations for the elderly in their respective territorial
jurisdictions."
"SEC. 9 Support for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Non-governmental
organizations or private volunteer organizations dedicated to the promotions,
enhancement and support of the welfare of senior citizens are hereby encouraged to
31
become partners of government in the implementation of program and projects for the
elderly.
According, the government shall recognize the vital role of NGOs in complementing the
government in the delivery of services to senior citizens. It shall likewise encourage
NGOs for the senior citizens to develop innovative service models and pilots projects
and to assist in the duplication of successful examples of these models elsewhere in the
country.
"SEC. 10. Penalties. Any person who violates any provision of this Act shall suffer the
following penalties:
(1) For the first violation, a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos
(P50,000.00) but not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) and
imprisonment of not less than six (6) months but not more than two (2) years;
and
(2) For any subsequent violation, a fine of not less than One hundred thousand
pesos (P100,000.00) but exceeding Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00)
and imprisonment for not less than two (2) years but not less than six (6) years.
Any person who abuses the privileges granted herein shall be punished with a fine of not
less than Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) but not more than Fifty thousand pesos
(P50,000.00), and imprisonment of not less than six (6) months.
If the offender is a corporation, organization or any similar entity, the official thereof
directly involved shall be liable therefore.
If the offender is an alien or a foreigner, he shall be deported immediately after service of
sentence without further deportation proceedings.
Upon filling an appropriate complaint, and after due notice and hearing, the proper
authorities may also cause the cancellation or revocation of the business permit, permit
to operate, franchise and other similar privileges granted to any business entity that fails
to abide by the provisions of this Act."
"SEC. 11. Monitoring and Coordinating Mechanism. A monitoring and coordinating
mechanism shall be established to be chaired by the DSWD, with the assistance of the
Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior
and Local Government (DILG), and five (5) accredited NGOs representing but not limited
to, women, urban poor, rural poor, and the veterans."
"SEC. 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The Secretary of Social Welfare and
Development, within sixty (60) days from the approval of this Act, shall promulgate the
implementing, rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the provisions of
this Act. In consultation and coordination with the following agencies and offices:
(a) Department of Health;
32
(b) Department of Labor and Employment;

(c) Department of Education;
(d) Depart of Transportation and Communications;
(e) Department of Justice;
(f) Department of Interior and Local Government;
(g) Department of Trade and Industry;
(h) Department of Finance;
(i) Commission of Higher Education;
(j) Technical Education and Skills Development Authority;
(k) National Economic and Development Authority;
(l) Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; and
(m) Five (5) non-governmental organizations of people's organizations for the
senior citizens duly accredited by the DSWD."
SEC. 13. Appropriation. The necessary appropriation for the operation and
maintenance of the OSCA shall be appropriated and approved by the local government
units concerned. The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act upon its
effectivity shall be charged out of the funds of the Office of the President. Thereafter, any
such sum as shall be needed for the regular implementation of this Act shall be included
in subsequent General Appropriations Act following its enactment into law."
SECTION 3. All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders and rules and regulations or part
thereof, contrary to, or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly.
SECTION 4. Should any provision of this Act be found unconstitutional by a court of law, such
provision shall be severed from the remainder of this Act, and such action shall not affect the
enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in any two
(2) national newspapers of general circulation.
33
RA 7170 Organ Donor Act of 1991

January 7, 1992
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE LEGACY OR DONATION OF ALL OR PART OF A HUMAN

BODY AFTER DEATH FOR SPECIFIED PURPOSES
assembled::
Section 1. Title. This Act shall be known as the "Organ Donation Act of 1991".
Section 2. Definition of Terms. As used in this Act the following terms shall mean:
(a) "Organ Bank Storage Facility" - a facility licensed, accredited or approved under the
law for storage of human bodies or parts thereof.
(b) "Decedent" - a deceased individual, and includes a still-born infant or fetus.
(c) "Testator" - an individual who makes a legacy of all or part of his body.
(d) "Donor" - an individual authorized under this Act to donate all or part of the body of a
decedent.1awphilalf
(e) "Hospital" - a hospital licensed, accredited or approval under the law, and includes, a
hospital operated by the Government.
(f) "Part" - includes transplantable organs, tissues, eyes, bones, arteries, blood, other
fluids and other portions of the human body.
(g) "Person" - an individual, corporation, estate, trust, partnership, association, the
Government or any of its subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities, including
government-owned or -controlled corporations; or any other legal entity.
(h) "Physician" or "Surgeon" - a physician or surgeon licensed or authorized to practice
medicine under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines.
(i) "Immediate Family" of the decedent - the persons enumerated in Section 4(a) of this
Act.
(j) "Death" - the irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or the
irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem. A
person shall be medically and legally dead if either:1awphilalf
(1) In the opinion of the attending physician, based on the acceptable standards
of medical practice, there is an absence of natural respiratory and cardiac
functions and, attempts at resuscitation would not be successful in restoring
those functions. In this case, death shall be deemed to have occurred at the time
these functions ceased; or
34
(2) In the opinion of the consulting physician, concurred in by the attending

physician, that on the basis of acceptable standards of medical practice, there is
an irreversible cessation of all brain functions; and considering the absence of
such functions, further attempts at resuscitation or continued supportive
maintenance would not be successful in resorting such natural functions. In this
case, death shall be deemed to have occurred at the time when these conditions
first appeared.
The death of the person shall be determined in accordance with the acceptable standards of
medical practice and shall be diagnosed separately by the attending physician and another
consulting physician, both of whom must be appropriately qualified and suitably experienced in
the care of such parties. The death shall be recorded in the patient's medical record.
Section 3. Person Who May Execute A Legacy. Any individual, at least eighteen (18) years
of age and of sound mind, may give by way of legacy, to take effect after his death, all or part of
his body for any purpose specified in Section 6 hereof.
Section 4. Person Who May Execute a Donation.
(a) Any of the following, person, in the order of property stated hereunder, in the
absence of actual notice of contrary intentions by the decedent or actual notice of
opposition by a member of the immediate family of the decedent, may donate all or any
part of the decedent's body for any purpose specified in Section 6 hereof:
(1) Spouse;
(2) Son or daughter of legal age;
(3) Either parent;
(4) Brother or sister of legal age; or
(5) Guardian over the person of the decedent at the time of his death.
(b) The persons authorized by sub-section (a) of this Section may make the donation
after or immediately before death.
Section 5. Examination of Human Body or Part Thereof . A legacy of donation of all or part
of a human body authorizes any examination necessary to assure medical acceptability of the
legacy or donation for the purpose(s) intended.
For purposes of this Act, an autopsy shall be conducted on the cadaver of accident, trauma, or
other medico-legal cases immediately after the pronouncement of death, to determine qualified
and healthy human organs for transplantation and/or in furtherance of medical science.
Section 6. Persons Who May Become Legatees or Donees. The following persons may
become legatees or donees of human bodies or parts thereof for any of the purposes stated
hereunder:
35
(a) Any hospital, physician or surgeon - For medical or dental education, research,
advancement of medical or dental science, therapy or transplantation;
(b) Any accredited medical or dental school, college or university - For education,
research, advancement of medical or dental science, or therapy;
(c) Any organ bank storage facility - For medical or dental education, research, therapy,
or transplantation; and
(d) Any specified individual - For therapy or transplantation needed by him.
Section 7. Duty of Hospitals. A hospital authorized to receive organ donations or to conduct
transplantation shall train qualified personnel and their staff to handle the task of introducing the
organ donation program in a humane and delicate manner to the relatives of the donordecedent enumerated in Section 4 hereof. The hospital shall accomplish the necessary form or
document as proof of compliance with the above requirement.
Section 8. Manner of Executing a Legacy.
(a) Legacy of all or part of the human body under Section 3 hereof may be made by will.
The legacy becomes effective upon the death of the testator without waiting for probate
of the will. If the will is not probated, or if it is declared invalid for testamentary purposes,
the legacy, to the extent that it was executed in good faith, is nevertheless valid and
effective.
(b) A legacy of all or part of the human body under Section 3 hereof may also be made
in any document other than a will. The legacy becomes effective upon death of the
testator and shall be respected by and binding upon his executor or administrator, heirs,
assigns, successors-in-interest and all members of the family. The document, which may
be a card or any paper designed to be carried on a person, must be signed by the
testator in the presence of two witnesses who must sign the document in his presence. If
the testator cannot sign, the document may be signed for him at his discretion and in his
presence, in the presence of two witnesses who must, likewise, sign the document in the
presence of the testator. Delivery of the document of legacy during the testator's lifetime
is not necessary to make the legacy valid.
(c) The legacy may be made to a specified legatee or without specifying a legatee. If the
legacy is made to a specified legatee who is not available at the time and place of the
testator's death, the attending physician or surgeon, in the absence of any expressed
indication that the testator desired otherwise, may accept the legacy as legatee. If the
legacy does not specify a legatee, the legacy may be accepted by the attending
physician or surgeon as legatee upon or following the testator's death. The physician
who becomes a legatee under this subsection shall not participate in the procedures for
removing or transplanting a part or parts of the body of the decedent.
(d) The testator may designate in his will, card or other document, the surgeon or
physician who will carry out the appropriate procedures. In the absence of a designation,
or if the designee is not available, the legatee or other persons authorized to accept the
legacy may authorize any surgeon or physician for the purpose.
36
Section 9. Manner of Executing a Donation. Any donation by a person authorized under

subsection (a) of Section 4 hereof shall be sufficient if it complies with the formalities of a
donation of a movable property.
In the absence of any of the persons specified under Section 4 hereof and in the absence of any
document of organ donation, the physician in charge of the patient, the head of the hospital or a
designated officer of the hospital who has custody of the body of the deceased classified as
accident, trauma, or other medico-legal cases, may authorize in a public document the removal
from such body for the purpose of transplantation of the organ to the body of a living person:
Provided, That the physician, head of hospital or officer designated by the hospital for this
purpose has exerted reasonable efforts, within forty-eight (48) hours, to locate the nearest
relative listed in Section 4 hereof or guardian of the decedent at the time of death.
In all donations, the death of a person from whose body an organ will be removed after his
death for the purpose of transplantation to a living person, shall be diagnosed separately and
certified by two (2) qualified physicians neither of whom should be:
(a) A member of the team of medical practitioners who will effect the removal of the
organ from the body; nor
(b) The physician attending to the receipt of the organ to be removed; nor
(c) The head of hospital or the designated officer authorizing the removal of the organ.
Section 10. Person(s) Authorized to Remove Transplantable Organs. Only authorized
medical practitioners in a hospital shall remove and/or transplant any organ which is authorized
to be removed and/or transplanted pursuant to Section 5 hereof.
Section 11. Delivery of Document of Legacy or Donation. If the legacy or donation is made
to a specified legatee or donee, the will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof,
may be delivered by the testator or donor, or is authorized representative, to the legatee or
donee to expedite the appropriate procedures immediately after death. The will, card or other
document, or an executed copy thereof, may be deposited in any hospital or organ bank storage
facility that accepts it for safekeeping or for facilitation or procedures after death. On the request
of any interested party upon or after the testator's death, the person in possession shall produce
the document of legacy or donation for verification.
Section 12. Amendment or Revocation of Legacy or Donation.
a) If he will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof, has been delivered to
a specific legatee or donee, the testator or donor may amend or revoke the legacy or
donation either by:
(1) The execution and delivery to the legatee or donee of a signed statement to
that effect; or
(2) An oral statement to that effect made in the presence of two other persons
and communicated to the legatee or donee; or
37
(3) A statement to that effect during a terminal illness or injury addressed to an

attending physician and communicated to the legatee or donee; or
(4) A signed card or document to that effect found on the person or effects of the
testator or donor.
(b) Any will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof, which has not been
delivered to the legatee or donee may be revoked by the testator or donor in the manner
provided in subsection (a) of this Section or by destruction, cancellation or mutilation of
the document and all executed copies thereof.
Any legacy made by a will may also be amended or revoked in the manner provided for
amendment or revocation of wills, or as provided in subsection (a) of this Section.
Section 13. Rights and Duties After Death.
(a) The legatee or donee may accept or reject the legacy or donation as the case may
be. If the legacy of donation is of a part of the body, the legatee or donee, upon the
death of the testator and prior to embalming, shall effect the removal of the part,
avoiding unnecessary mutilation. After removal of the part, custody of the remainder of
the body vests in the surviving spouse, next of kin or other persons under obligation to
dispose of the body of the decedent.
(b) Any person who acts in good faith in accordance with the terms of this Act shall not
be liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal
proceeding of this Act.
Section 14. International Sharing of Human Organs or Tissues. Sharing of human organs
or tissues shall be made only through exchange programs duly approved by the Department of
Health: Provided, That foreign organ or tissue bank storage facilities and similar establishments
grant reciprocal rights to their Philippine counterparts to draw organs or tissues at any time.
Section 15. Information Drive. In order that the public will obtain the maximum benefits from
this Act, the Department of Health, in cooperation with institutions, such as the National Kidney
Institute, civic and non-government health organizations and other health related agencies,
involved in the donation and transplantation of human organs, shall undertake a public
information program.
The Secretary of Health shall endeavor to persuade all health professionals, both government
and private, to make an appeal for human organ donation.
Section 16. Rules and Regulations. The Secretary of Health, after consultation with all
health professionals, both government and private, and non-government health organizations
shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper to implement this
Act.
Section 17. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, ordinances, rules and regulations,
executive or administrative orders, and other presidential issuance inconsistent with this Act, are
hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.
38
Section 18. Separability Clause. The provisions of this Act are hereby deemed separable. If
any provision hereof should be declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions
shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 19. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its
publication in the Official Gazette or at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved: January 7, 1992
39
RA 7885 Act to Advance Corneal Transplantation

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7885
AN ACT TO ADVANCE CORNEAL TRANSPLANTATION IN THE PHILIPPINES, AMENDING
FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED
AND SEVENTY (R.A. NO. 7170), OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ORGAN DONATION ACT
OF 1991
Section 1.
Sec. 9 of Republic Act No. 7170 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 9. Manner of Executing a Donation. Any donation by a person authorized under

subsection (a) of Sec. 4 hereof shall be sufficient if it complies with the formalities of a donation
of a movable property.
"In the absence of any persons specified under Sec. 4 hereof and in the absence of any
document of organ donation, the physician in charge of the patient, the head of the hospital or a
designated officer of the hospital who has custody of the body of the deceased classified as
accident, trauma, or other medico-legal cases, may authorize in a public document the removal
from such body for the purpose of transplantation of the organ to the body of a living person:
provided, that the physician, head of the hospital or officer designated by the hospital for this
purpose has exerted reasonable efforts, within forty-eight (48) hours, to locate the nearest
relative listed in Sec. 4 hereof or guardian of the decedent at the time of death: provided,
however, that the said physician, head or designated officer of the hospital, or the medico-legal
officer of any government agency which has custody of such body may authorize the removal of
the cornea or corneas of the decedent within twelve (12) hours after death and upon the request
of qualified legatees or donees for the sole purpose of transplantation: provided, that such
removal of the cornea or corneas will not interfere with any subsequent investigation or alter the
post-mortem facial appearance of the decedent by such means as placing eye caps after the
said cornea or corneas have been removed.
"In all donations, the death of a person from whose body an organ will be removed after his
death for the purpose of transplantation to a living person, shall be diagnosed separately and
certified by two (2) qualified physicians neither of whom shall be:
"(a) A member of the team of medical practitioners who will effect the removal of the organ
from the body; nor
"(b)
The physician attending to recipient of the organ to be removed; nor
"(c)
The head of hospital or the designated officer authorizing the removal of the organ."
Sec. 2.
Section 10 of Republic Act No. 7170 is also amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 10. Person(s) Authorized to Remove and Transplant Organs and Tissues. Only
authorized medical practitioners in a hospital shall remove and/or transplant any organ which is
authorized to be removed and/or transplanted pursuant to Sec. 5 hereof: provided, however,
that the removal of corneal tissues shall be performed only by ophthalmic surgeons and
ophthalmic technicians trained in the methodology of such procedure and duly certified by the
accredited National Association of Ophthalmologists."
40
Sec. 3. The implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 7170 shall be amended
accordingly by the Secretary of Health, in consultation with professional health groups and nongovernment health organizations, to make it consistent with the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 4. The provisions of this Act are hereby declared separable, and in the event any such
provisions is declared unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in
force and effect.
Sec. 5. All other laws, decrees, executive orders, administrative orders, rules and regulations
or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed,
amended or modified accordingly.
Sec. 6.
This Act shall take effect upon its approval
41
Case: Dr. Alano v. Magud-Lugmao

G.R. No. 175540
April 7, 2014
DR. FILOTEO A. ALANO, Petitioner,

vs.
ZENAIDA MAGUD-LOGMAO, Respondent.
DECISION
PERALTA, J.:
This deals with the Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court praying
that the Decision1of the Court of Appeals (CA), dated March 31, 2006, adjudging petitioner
liable for damages, and the Resolution2dated November 22, 2006, denying petitioner's motion
for reconsideration thereof, be reversed and set aside.
The CA's narration of facts is accurate, to wit:
Plaintiff-appellee Zenaida Magud-Logmao is the mother of deceased Arnelito Logmao.
Defendant-appellant Dr. Filoteo Alano is the Executive Director of the National Kidney Institute
(NKI).
At around 9:50 in the evening of March 1, 1988, Arnelito Logmao, then eighteen (18) years old,
was brought to the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) in Quezon City by two sidewalk
vendors, who allegedly saw the former fall from the overpass near the Farmers Market in
Cubao, Quezon City. The patients data sheet identified the patient as Angelito Lugmoso of Boni
Avenue, Mandaluyong. However, the clinical abstract prepared by Dr. Paterno F. Cabrera, the
surgical resident on-duty at the Emergency Room of EAMC, stated that the patient is Angelito
[Logmao].
Dr. Cabrera reported that [Logmao] was drowsy with alcoholic breath, was conscious and
coherent; that the skull x-ray showed no fracture; that at around 4:00 oclock in the morning of
March 2, 1988, [Logmao] developed generalized seizures and was managed by the neurosurgery resident on-duty; that the condition of [Logmao] progressively deteriorated and he was
intubated and ambu-bagging support was provided; that admission to the Intensive Care Unit
(ICU) and mechanical ventilator support became necessary, but there was no vacancy at the
ICU and all the ventilator units were being used by other patients; that a resident physician of
NKI, who was rotating at EAMC, suggested that [Logmao] be transferred to NKI; and that after
arrangements were made, [Logmao] was transferred to NKI at 10:10 in the morning.
At the NKI, the name Angelito [Logmao] was recorded as Angelito Lugmoso. Lugmoso was
immediately attended to and given the necessary medical treatment. As Lugmoso had no
relatives around, Jennifer B. Misa, Transplant Coordinator, was asked to locate his family by
enlisting police and media assistance. Dr. Enrique T. Ona, Chairman of the Department of
Surgery, observed that the severity of the brain injury of Lugmoso manifested symptoms of
brain death. He requested the Laboratory Section to conduct a tissue typing and tissue crossmatching examination, so that should Lugmoso expire despite the necessary medical care and
42
management and he would be found to be a suitable organ donor and his family would consent
to organ donation, the organs thus donated could be detached and transplanted promptly to any
compatible beneficiary.
Jennifer Misa verified on the same day, March 2, 1988, from EAMC the identity of Lugmoso
and, upon her request, she was furnished by EAMC a copy of the patients date sheet which
bears the name Angelito Lugmoso, with address at Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong. She then
contacted several radio and television stations to request for air time for the purpose of locating
the family of Angelito Lugmoso of Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong, who was confined at NKI for
severe head injury after allegedly falling from the Cubao overpass, as well as Police Station No.
5, Eastern Police District, whose area of jurisdiction includes Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong, for
assistance in locating the relatives of Angelito Lugmoso. Certifications were issued by Channel
4, ABS-CBN and GMA attesting that the request made by the NKI on March 2, 1988 to air its
appeal to locate the family and relatives of Angelito Lugmoso of Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong
was accommodated. A Certification was likewise issued by Police Station No. 5, Eastern Police
District, Mandaluyong attesting to the fact that on March 2, 1988, at about 6:00 p.m., Jennifer
Misa requested for assistance to immediately locate the family and relatives of Angelito
Lugmoso and that she followed up her request until March 9, 1988.
On March 3, 1988, at about 7:00 oclock in the morning, Dr. Ona was informed that Lugmoso
had been pronounced brain dead by Dr. Abdias V. Aquino, a neurologist, and by Dr. Antonio
Rafael, a neurosurgeon and attending physician of Lugmoso, and that a repeat
electroencephalogram (EEG) was in progress to confirm the diagnosis of brain death. Two
hours later, Dr. Ona was informed that the EEG recording exhibited a flat tracing, thereby
confirming that Lugmoso was brain dead. Upon learning that Lugmoso was a suitable organ
donor and that some NKI patients awaiting organ donation had blood and tissue types
compatible with Lugmoso, Dr. Ona inquired from Jennifer Misa whether the relatives of
Lugmoso had been located so that the necessary consent for organ donation could be obtained.
As the extensive search for the relatives of Lugmoso yielded no positive result and time being of
the essence in the success of organ transplantation, Dr. Ona requested Dr. Filoteo A. Alano,
Executive Director of NKI, to authorize the removal of specific organs from the body of Lugmoso
for transplantation purposes. Dr. Ona likewise instructed Dr. Rose Marie Rosete-Liquete to
secure permission for the planned organ retrieval and transplantation from the Medico-Legal
Office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), on the assumption that the incident which
lead to the brain injury and death of Lugmoso was a medico legal case.
On March 3, 1988, Dr. Alano issued to Dr. Ona a Memorandum, which reads as follows:
This is in connection with the use of the human organs or any portion or portions of the human
body of the deceased patient, identified as a certain Mr. Angelito Lugmoso who was brought to
the National Kidney Institute on March 2, 1988 from the East Avenue Medical Center.
As shown by the medical records, the said patient died on March 3, 1988 at 9:10 in the morning
due to craniocerebral injury. Please make certain that your Department has exerted all
reasonable efforts to locate the relatives or next of kin of the said deceased patient such as
appeal through the radios and television as well as through police and other government
agencies and that the NBI [Medico-Legal] Section has been notified and is aware of the case.
If all the above has been complied with, in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No.
349 as amended and P.D. 856, permission and/or authority is hereby given to the Department
43
of Surgery to retrieve and remove the kidneys, pancreas, liver and heart of the said deceased
patient and to transplant the said organs to any compatible patient who maybe in need of said
organs to live and survive.
A Certification dated March 10, 1988 was issued by Dr. Maximo Reyes, Medico-Legal Officer of
the NBI, stating that he received a telephone call from Dr. Liquete on March 3, 1988 at 9:15
a.m. regarding the case of Lugmoso, who was declared brain dead; that despite efforts to locate
the latters relatives, no one responded; that Dr. Liquete sought from him a second opinion for
organ retrieval for donation purposes even in the absence of consent from the family of the
deceased; and that he verbally agreed to organ retrieval.
At 3:45 in the afternoon of March 3, 1988, a medical team, composed of Dr. Enrique Ona, as
principal surgeon, Drs. Manuel Chua-Chiaco, Jr., Rose Marie Rosete-Liquete, Aurea Ambrosio,
Ludivino de Guzman, Mary Litonjua, Jaime Velasquez, Ricardo Fernando, and Myrna Mendoza,
removed the heart, kidneys, pancreas, liver and spleen of Lugmoso. The medical team then
transplanted a kidney and the pancreas of Lugmoso to Lee Tan Hoc and the other kidney of
Lugmoso to Alexis Ambustan. The transplant operation was completed at around 11:00 oclock
in the evening of March 3, 1988.
On March 4, 1988, Dr. Antonio R. Paraiso, Head of the Cadaver Organ Retrieval Effort (CORE)
program of NKI, made arrangements with La Funeraria Oro for the embalmment of the cadaver
of Lugmoso good for a period of fifteen (15) days to afford NKI more time to continue searching
for the relatives of the latter. On the same day, Roberto Ortega, Funeral Consultant of La
Funeraria Oro, sent a request for autopsy to the NBI. The Autopsy Report and Certification of
Post-Mortem Examination issued by the NBI stated that the cause of death of Lugmoso was
intracranial hemorrhage secondary to skull fracture.
On March 11, 1988, the NKI issued a press release announcing its successful double organ
transplantation. Aida Doromal, a cousin of plaintiff, heard the news aired on television that the
donor was an eighteen (18) year old boy whose remains were at La Funeraria Oro in Quezon
City. As the name of the donor sounded like Arnelito Logmao, Aida informed plaintiff of the news
report.
It appears that on March 3, 1988, Arlen Logmao, a brother of Arnelito, who was then a resident
of 17-C San Pedro Street, Mandaluyong, reported to Police Station No. 5, Eastern Police
District, Mandaluyong that the latter did not return home after seeing a movie in Cubao, Quezon
City, as evidenced by a Certification issued by said Station; and that the relatives of Arnelito
were likewise informed that the latter was missing. Upon receiving the news from Aida, plaintiff
and her other children went to La Funeraria Oro, where they saw Arnelito inside a cheap casket.
On April 29, 1988, plaintiff filed with the court a quo a complaint for damages against Dr.
Emmanuel Lenon, Taurean Protectors Agency, represented by its Proprietor, Celso Santiago,
National Kidney Institute, represented by its Director, Dr. Filoteo A. Alano, Jennifer Misa, Dr.
Maximo Reyes, Dr. Enrique T. Ona, Dr. Manuel Chua-Chiaco, Jr., Dr. Rose Marie O. RoseteLiquete, Dr. Aurea Z. Ambrosio, Dr. Ludivino de Guzman, Dr. Mary Litonjua, Dr. Jaime
Velasquez, Dr. Ricardo Fernando, Dr. Myrna Mendoza, Lee Tan Koc, Alexis Ambustan, Dr.
Antonio R. Paraiso, La Funeraria Oro, Inc., represented by its President, German E. Ortega,
Roberto Ortega alias Bobby Ortega, Dr. Mariano B. Cueva, Jr., John Doe, Peter Doe, and Alex
Doe in connection with the death of her son Arnelito. Plaintiff alleged that defendants conspired
44
to remove the organs of Arnelito while the latter was still alive and that they concealed his true
identity.
On January 17, 2000, the court a quo rendered judgment finding only Dr. Filoteo Alano liable for
damages to plaintiff and dismissing the complaint against the other defendants for lack of legal
basis.3
After finding petitioner liable for a quasi-delict, the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City (RTC)
ordered petitioner to pay respondent P188,740.90 as actual damages; P500,000.00 as moral
damages; P500,000.00 as exemplary damages; P300,000.00 as attorney's fees; and costs of
suit. Petitioner appealed to the CA.
On March 31, 2006, the CA issued its Decision, the dispositive portion of which reads as
follows:
WHEREFORE, the Decision appealed from is AFFIRMED, with MODIFICATION by DELETING
the award ofP188,740.90 as actual damages and REDUCING the award of moral damages
to P250,000.00, the award of exemplary damages to P200,000.00 and the award of attorney's
fees to P100,000.00.
SO ORDERED.4
Petitioner then elevated the matter to this Court via a petition for review on certiorari, where the
following issues are presented for resolution:
A. WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS DISREGARDED EXISTING
JURISPRUDENCE PRONOUNCED BY THIS HONORABLE SUPREME COURT IN
HOLDING PETITIONER DR. FILOTEO ALANO LIABLE FOR MORAL AND
EXEMPLARY DAMAGES AND ATTORNEY'S FEES DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE
ACT OF THE PETITIONER IS NOT THE PROXIMATE CAUSE NOR IS THERE ANY
FINDING THAT THE ACT OF THE PETITIONER WAS THE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF
THE INJURY OR DAMAGE ALLEGEDLY SUSTAINED BY RESPONDENT ZENAIDA
MAGUD-LOGMAO.
B. WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN REFUSING AND/OR
FAILING TO DECLARE THAT PETITIONER DR. ALANO ACTED IN GOOD FAITH AND
PURSUANT TO LAW WHEN HE ISSUED THE AUTHORIZATION TO REMOVE AND
RETRIEVE THE ORGANS OF ANGELITO LUGMOSO (LATER IDENTIFIED TO BE IN
FACT ARNELITO LOGMAO) CONSIDERING THAT NO NEGLIGENCE CAN BE
ATTRIBUTED OR IMPUTED ON HIM IN HIS PERFORMANCE OF AN ACT
MANDATED BY LAW.
C. WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN AWARDING
RESPONDENT ZENAIDA MAGUD-LOGMAO MORAL AND EXEMPLARY DAMAGES
AND ATTORNEY'S FEES THAT ARE NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH AND ARE
CONTRARY TO ESTABLISHED JURISPRUDENCE.5
The first two issues boil down to the question of whether respondent's sufferings were brought
about by petitioner's alleged negligence in granting authorization for the removal or retrieval of
the internal organs of respondent's son who had been declared brain dead.
45
Petitioner maintains that when he gave authorization for the removal of some of the internal
organs to be transplanted to other patients, he did so in accordance with the letter of the law,
Republic Act (R.A.) No. 349, as amended by Presidential Decree (P.D.) 856, i.e., giving his
subordinates instructions to exert all reasonable efforts to locate the relatives or next of kin of
respondent's son. In fact, announcements were made through radio and television, the
assistance of police authorities was sought, and the NBI Medico-Legal Section was notified.
Thus, petitioner insists that he should not be held responsible for any damage allegedly suffered
by respondent due to the death of her son and the removal of her sons internal organs for
transplant purposes.
The appellate court affirmed the trial court's finding that there was negligence on petitioner's
part when he failed to ensure that reasonable time had elapsed to locate the relatives of the
deceased before giving the authorization to remove said deceased's internal organs for
transplant purposes. However, a close examination of the records of this case would reveal that
this case falls under one of the exceptions to the general rule that factual findings of the trial
court, when affirmed by the appellate court, are binding on this Court. There are some important
circumstances that the lower courts failed to consider in ascertaining whether it was the actions
of petitioner that brought about the sufferings of respondent.6
The Memorandum dated March 3, 1988 issued by petitioner, stated thus:
As shown by the medical records, the said patient died on March 3, 1988 at 9:10 in the morning
due to craniocerebral injury. Please make certain that your Department has exerted all
reasonable efforts to locate the relatives or next-of-kin of the said deceased patient, such as
appeal through the radios and television, as well as through police and other government
agencies and that the NBI [Medico-Legal] Section has been notified and is aware of the case.
If all the above has been complied with, in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No.
349 as amended and P.D. 856, permission and/or authority is hereby given to the Department
of Surgery to retrieve and remove the kidneys, pancreas, liver and heart of the said deceased
patient and to transplant the said organs to any compatible patient who maybe in need of said
organs to live and survive.7
A careful reading of the above shows that petitioner instructed his subordinates to "make
certain" that "all reasonable efforts" are exerted to locate the patient's next of kin, even
enumerating ways in which to ensure that notices of the death of the patient would reach said
relatives. It also clearly stated that permission or authorization to retrieve and remove the
internal organs of the deceased was being given ONLY IF the provisions of the applicable law
had been complied with. Such instructions reveal that petitioner acted prudently by directing his
subordinates to exhaust all reasonable means of locating the relatives of the deceased. He
could not have made his directives any clearer. He even specifically mentioned that permission
is only being granted IF the Department of Surgery has complied with all the requirements of the
law. Verily, petitioner could not have been faulted for having full confidence in the ability of the
doctors in the Department of Surgery to comprehend the instructions, obeying all his directives,
and acting only in accordance with the requirements of the law.
Furthermore, as found by the lower courts from the records of the case, the doctors and
personnel of NKI disseminated notices of the death of respondent's son to the media and
sought the assistance of the appropriate police authorities as early as March 2, 1988, even
before petitioner issued the Memorandum. Prior to performing the procedure for retrieval of the
46
deceased's internal organs, the doctors concerned also the sought the opinion and approval of
the Medico-Legal Officer of the NBI.
Thus, there can be no cavil that petitioner employed reasonable means to disseminate
notifications intended to reach the relatives of the deceased. The only question that remains
pertains to the sufficiency of time allowed for notices to reach the relatives of the deceased.
If respondent failed to immediately receive notice of her son's death because the notices did not
properly state the name or identity of the deceased, fault cannot be laid at petitioner's door. The
trial and appellate courts found that it was the EAMC, who had the opportunity to ascertain the
name of the deceased, who recorded the wrong information regarding the deceased's identity to
NKI. The NKI could not have obtained the information about his name from the patient, because
as found by the lower courts, the deceased was already unconscious by the time he was
brought to the NKI.
Ultimately, it is respondent's failure to adduce adequate evidence that doomed this
case.1wphi1 As stated in Otero v. Tan,8"[i]n civil cases, it is a basic rule that the party making
allegations has the burden of proving them by a preponderance of evidence. The parties must
rely on the strength of their own evidence and not upon the weakness of the defense offered by
their opponent."9 Here, there is to proof that, indeed, the period of around 24 hours from the
time notices were disseminated, cannot be considered as reasonable under the circumstances.
They failed to present any expert witness to prove that given the medical technology and
knowledge at that time in the 1980's, the doctors could or should have waited longer before
harvesting the internal organs for transplantation.
Verily, the Court cannot, in conscience, agree with the lower court. Finding petitioner liable for
damages is improper. It should be emphasized that the internal organs of the deceased were
removed only after he had been declared brain dead; thus, the emotional pain suffered by
respondent due to the death of her son cannot in any way be attributed to petitioner. Neither can
the Court find evidence on record to show that respondent's emotional suffering at the sight of
the pitiful state in which she found her son's lifeless body be categorically attributed to
petitioner's conduct.
WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Decision of the Court of Appeals, dated March
31, 2006, is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The complaint against petitioner is hereby
DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED.
Footnotes
1
Penned by Associate Justice Marina L. Buzon, with Associate Justices Aurora

Santiago-Lagman and Arcangelita Romilla-Lontok, concurring; rollo, pp. 71-96
2
Id. at 98-101.
Id. at 73-79. (Citations omitted)
Id. at 95. (Emphasis in the original)
47
Id. at 408-409.
E.Y. Industrial Sales, Inc. vs. Shen Dar Electricity and Machinery Co., Ltd., G.R. No.
184850, October 20, 2010, 634 SCRA 363.
7
Exhibits "19" and "33," records, p. 1019. (Emphasis supplied)
G.R. No. 200134, August 15, 2012, 678 SCRA 583.
Id. at 598.
48
PD 651 (as amended) Requiring the Registration of Births and Deaths in the Philippines
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 651 January 31, 1975
REQUIRING THE REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN THE PHILIPPINES WHICH
OCCURED FROM JANUARY 1, 1974 AND THEREAFTER
WHEREAS, government surveys reveal that every year twenty five to forty per cent of all births
and death occurring in the Philippines are not registered in the office of the local civil registrar as
required by Act 3753;
WHEREAS, this big number of under-registration adversely affects the program of government
in promoting the health and social conditions of the people especially the youth because of
difficulty in gathering complete vital statistics due to the under-registration of births and deaths;
WHEREAS, to provide primary sources of vital statistics for use in various population studies in
order to formulate more effective health and social plan for the country, the immediate
registration of unregistered births and deaths is imperative;
WHEREAS, this will be another landmark in the continuing efforts of the government to improve
the social conditions of the people with the aid of accurate vital statistics, and is in line with the
observance of the 1974 world population year;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the
powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree that all births and deaths
that occurred within the period starting January 1, 1974 to the date when this decree becomes
effective, but were not registered, and those that will occur thereafter, shall be registered in
accordance with the following procedures;
Section 1. Registration of births. All babies born in hospitals, maternity clinics, private homes,
or elsewhere within the period starting from January 1, 1974 up to the date when this decree
becomes effective, irrespective of the nationality, race, culture, religion or belief of their parents,
whether the mother is a permanent resident or transient in the Philippines, and whose births
have not yet been registered must be reported for registration in the office of the local civil
registrar of the place of birth by the physician, nurse, midwife, hilot, or hospital or clinic
administrator who attended the birth or in default thereof, by either parent or a responsible
member of the family or a relative, or any person who has knowledge of the birth of the
individual child.
The report referred to above shall be accompanied with an affidavit describing the
circumstances surrounding the delayed registration.
Section 2. Period of registration of births. The registration of the birth of babies referred to in the
preceding section must be done within sixty (60) days from the date of effectivity of this decree
without or fee or any kind. Babies born after the effectivity of this decree must be registered in
the office of the local civil registrar of the place of birth within thirty (30) days after birth, by the
attending physician, nurse, midwife, hilot or hospitals or clinic administrator or, in default of the
same, by either parent or a responsible member of the family or any person who has knowledge
of the birth.
49
The parents or the responsible member of the family and the attendant at birth or the hospital or
clinic administrator referred to above shall be jointly liable in case they fail to register the new
born child. If there was no attendant at birth, or if the child was not born in a hospital or
maternity clinic, then the parents or the responsible member of the family alone shall be
primarily liable in case of failure to register the new born child.
Section 3. Proof of birth registration a pre-requisite to school enrolment and allowance of tax
exemption. Henceforth, starting with the year 1975, the presentation of a birth certificate shall be
a pre-requisite to enrolment in the first grade in all public and private schools in the country and
allowance of tax exemption for dependents under the National Internal Revenue Code.
Section 4. Registration of deaths. All persons, irrespective of nationality, race, culture, religion
and belief, whether a permanent resident or a transient in the Philippines, who died in hospitals,
clinic, private homes, or elsewhere, within the period from January 1, 1974 to the date of
effectivity of this decree, whose deaths have not yet been registered, must be reported for
registration through the local health officer to the local civil registrar of the place of death, by the
physician who attended the deceased or in default thereof, by the nearest responsible relative
or by any person who has knowledge of such death.
The report referred to above shall be accompanied by an affidavit describing the circumstances
surrounding the delayed registration.
Section 5. Period of reporting and registration of deaths. The registration of deaths referred to
in the preceding section must be done within sixty (60) days from the date of effectivity of this
decree without fine or fee of any kind. Deaths occurring after the effectivity of this decree must
be reported by the nearest responsible relative or any person who has knowledge of the death
within 48 hours after death to the local health officer of the place of death, who shall then issue
the corresponding certificate of death and order its registration in the office of the local civil
registrar within thirty (30) days after death. In case the deceased was attended to by a
physician, the latter must issue the necessary certificate of death within 48 hours after death
and submit the same to the local health officer of the place of death, who shall order its
registration in the office of the local civil registrar within the said period of thirty (30) days after
death.
Section 6. No registration fee. No fees of any kind shall be imposed for the registration of births
or deaths within the prescribed period. However, for the issuance of a certified copy of any birth
or death document, or transcript of the entries from the civil register, upon the request of the
interested party, a certification fee shall be collected in accordance with existing law.
Section 7. Assistance of barrio captain and barangay chairman. All barrio captains and
barangay chairman shall have responsibility for disseminating this decree among their
constituents and for assisting in the registration of births and deaths occurring within their
respective jurisdictions to insure complete coverage of these events.
Section 8. Implementing official. The Civil Registrar General in hereby authorized to issue rules
and regulations, orders or circulars to implement this decree.
Section 9. Penalty. Any person required under this decree to report for registration any fact
concerning the civil status of persons and who fails to do so, or who deliberately makes false
statements in the birth or death form and presents the same for registration, or who violates any
50
rule or regulation which may be issued pursuant to this decree, and any local public health
officer who fails to perform his duties as provided for in this decree, or violates any rule or
regulation which may be issued pursuant to this decree, shall upon conviction, be punished by a
fine of not less than P500.00 nor more than P1,000.00 or imprisonment of not less than three
(3) months nor more than six (6) months, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 10. Repealing Clause. Any provision of law, ordinance, rules and regulations
inconsistent with the provisions of this decree, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 11. Effectivity. This decree shall take effect forty five (45) days after its approval.
Done in the City of Manila, this 31st day of January, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred
and seventy-five.
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 766 August 8, 1975
AMENDING SECTIONS 2 AND 5 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 651, DATED JANUARY
31, 1975, ENTITLED "REQUIRING THE REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN THE
PHILIPPINES WHICH OCCURRED FROM JANUARY 1, 1974 AND THEREAFTER" AND
EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF REGISTRATION UP TO DECEMBER 31, 1975
WHEREAS, Sections 2 and 5 of Presidential Decree No. 651, requires unregistered births and
deaths which occurred from January 1, 1974 up to the date when said decree becomes
effective, to be registered in the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of the place where the event
occurred within sixty (60) days from March 16 to May 16, 1975, without fine or fee of any kind;
WHEREAS, the same sections of said decree also provide that all births and deaths occurring
after the effectivity of said decree must be registered within thirty (30) days from date of
occurrence, without fee or fine of any kind;
WHEREAS, due to the present difficulties in the Mindanao area and the lack of facilities and
communication to convey the relevance and importance of the registration to the births and
deaths, there is a strong clamor for the extension of the period for the registration of births and
deaths beyond the period prescribed by P.D. 651;
WHEREAS, the extension of the prescribed period of registration would give more time for
complete registration of births and deaths and provides reliable sources of adequate vital
statistics of the country.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the
powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree:
Section 1. Section 2 of Presidential Decree No. 651 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 2. Period of Registration of births. The registration of the birth of babies referred to in the
preceding section including those unregistered births which occurred from March 17, 1975, to
November 30, 1975, must be done until December 31, 1975, without fine or fee of any kind.
Babies born after November 30, 1975 and thereafter, must be registered within thirty (30) days
from birth without fine or fee of any kind by the attending physician, nurse, midwife, hilot or
51
hospital or clinic administrator or, in default of the same, by either parent or a responsible
member of the family or any person who has knowledge of the birth.
"The parents or any responsible member of the family and the attendant at birth or the hospital
or clinic administrator referred to above shall be jointly liable in case they fail to register the new
born child. If there was no attendant at birth, or if the child was not born in a hospital or a
maternity clinic, then the parents or responsible member of the family alone shall be primarily
liable in case of failure to register the new born child."
Section 2. Section 5 of the same decree is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 5. Period of reporting and registration of deaths. The registration of deaths referred to in
the preceding Section including those unregistered deaths which occurred from March 17, 1975,
to November 30, 1975, must be done until December 31, 1975, without fine or fee of any kind.
Deaths occurring November 30, 1975 and thereafter, must be reported by the nearest
responsible relative or any person who has knowledge of the death within 48 hours after death
to the Local Health Officer of the place of death, who shall then issue the corresponding
certificate of death and order its registration in the Office of the Local Civil Registrar within thirty
(30) days after death, without fee or fine of any kind. In case the deceased was attended to by a
physician, the latter must issue the necessary certificate of death within 48 hours after death
and submit the same to the Local Health Officer of the place of death, who shall order its
registration in the Office of the Local Civil Registrar within the said period of thirty (30) days after
death, without fee or fine of any kind."
The attending physician and responsible member of the family or person who has knowledge of
the death are jointly liable to report the death to the Local Health Officer, for registration by the
Local Civil Registrar of the place of the death. If the deceased was not attended by a physician
or did not die in the hospital, the responsible member of the family alone shall be responsible for
failure to submit the report of death to the Local Health Officer.
Section 3. The same decree is amended by adding the following section immediately after
Section 5 thereof, which read as follows:
"Sec. 5-A. Extension of Registration. The aforecited periods within which to register
unregistered births and deaths may be extended in meritorious cases by the Director-General of
the National Economic and Development Authority upon the recommendation of the Civil
Registar-General."
Section 4. All laws or part of laws inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed, amended
or modified accordingly.
Section 5. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila this 8th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-five.
Case: Baldos v. CA
G.R. No. 170645
July 9, 2010
52
NIEVES ESTARES BALDOS, substituted by FRANCISCO BALDOS and MARTIN

BALDOS, Petitioners,
vs.
COURT OF APPEALS and REYNALDO PILLAZAR a.k.a. REYNALDO ESTARES
BALDOS, Respondents.
RESOLUTION
CARPIO, J.:
The Case
This is a petition for review1 of the 8 August 2005 Decision2 and the 22 November 2005
Resolution3 of the Court of Appeals in CA G.R. CV No. 65693. The 8 August 2005 Decision
affirmed the 16 August 1999 Order4 of the Regional Trial Court (Branch 74) of Olongapo City in
Civil Case No. 79-0-95. The 22 November 2005 Resolution denied petitioners motion for
reconsideration.
The Antecedent Facts
Reynaldo Pillazar, alias Reynaldo Baldos, was born on 30 October 1948. However, his birth
was not registered in the office of the local civil registrar until roughly 36 years later or on 11
February 1985. His certificate of live birth5indicated Nieves Baldos as his mother and Bartolome
Baldos as his father. Nieves Baldos also appeared as the informant on the certificate of live
birth.
On 8 March 1995, Nieves Baldos filed in the Regional Trial Court of Olongapo City a
complaint,6 docketed as Civil Case No. 79-0-95, for cancellation of the late registration of
Reynaldos birth. She claimed that Reynaldo was not really her son.
The Trial Courts Ruling
The trial court treated the complaint as a petition. In its 16 August 1999 Order, 7 the trial court
dismissed the petition for lack of merit. The trial court reasoned as follows:
A thorough examination of the evidence adduced by the plaintiff vis-a-vis the evidence of the
defendant shows that apart from the scornful denial of plaintiff that defendant is her son, all
documentary evidence available points to the contrary. The declaration of two disinterested
persons, who were neighbors of the petitioner and his deceased husband, has never been
refuted.
No one was presented by plaintiff to corroborate her stand.
In the realm of the evidence on record, there is no doubt that the oppositor is petitioners son.
Petitioners reason for disowning the oppositor is obvious; he did not live up to her expectation;
his wife is ungrateful to everything she did for her and the oppositor. Bad blood runs in the veins
of the parties. But while oppositor may have done an act that caused plaintiff to rue she gave
him life, such acts however, are not justifications of what she prays from this Court.
53
An ungrateful act is not a ground to cancel a validly executed document, nor a reason to strip a
person of ones filiation. It may be a ground for disinheritance though. The documents adduced
on record are the best evidence of the parties relationship.8
Undeterred, Nieves appealed to the Court of Appeals. She insisted that the late registration of
Reynaldos birth was contrary to Presidential Decree No. 651 (P.D. No. 651).
The Ruling of the Court of Appeals
In its 8 August 2005 Decision,9 the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial courts Order. The
appellate court held that P.D. No. 651 did not proscribe the late registration of births of persons
born before 1 January 1974. The Court of Appeals explained that the purpose of the decree was
to encourage registration of births as well as deaths.
Nieves Baldos died on 17 May 1999. Her lawyer filed a motion for substitution10 six years later
or on 20 October 2005. In its 22 November 2005 Resolution,11 the Court of Appeals granted the
motion for substitution. From then on, Bartolomes brothers, Francisco Baldos and Martin
Baldos, substituted for Nieves Baldos.
The Issue
The sole issue is whether the late registration of Reynaldos birth is valid.
The Courts Ruling
The petition lacks merit.
Petitioners insist that the late registration of Reynaldos birth is not authorized by P.D. No. 651.
They claim that P.D. No. 651 applies only to births within the period from 1 January 1974 up to
the date when the decree became effective. They point out that Reynaldo was born on 30
October 1948, outside of the period covered by the decree. Thus, petitioners submit the Court of
Appeals violated basic rules of statutory construction when it interpreted P.D. No. 651 to include
births before 1 January 1974. Petitioners contend the late registration of Reynaldos birth
amounts to simulation of birth.
Respondent Reynaldo counters that P.D. No. 651 does not proscribe the late registration of
births of persons born before 1 January 1974. He maintains that he has sufficiently proven, by
clear and convincing evidence,
the fact that he is the son of Nieves and Bartolome Baldos. He asserts that a certificate of live
birth is a public document covered by the presumption of regularity in the performance of official
functions.
Presidential Decree No. 651, otherwise known as An Act Requiring the Registration of Births
and Deaths in the Philippines which Occurred from 1 January 1974 and Thereafter, provides:
Sec. 1. Registration of births. All babies born in hospitals, maternity clinics, private homes, or
elsewhere within the period starting from January 1, 1974 up to the date when this decree
becomes effective, irrespective of the nationality, race, culture, religion or belief of their
54
parents, whether the mother is a permanent resident or transient in the Philippines, and whose
births have not yet been registered must be reported for registration in the office of the local
civil registrar of the place of birth by the physician, nurse, midwife, hilot, or hospital or clinic
administrator who attended the birth or in default thereof, by either parent or a responsible
member of the family or a relative, or any person who has knowledge of the birth of the
individual child.
The report referred to above shall be accompanied with an affidavit describing the
circumstances surrounding the delayed registration. (Emphasis supplied)
Sec. 2. Period of registration of births. The registration of the birth of babies referred to in
the preceding section must be done within sixty (60) days from the date of effectivity of
this decree without fine or fee of any kind. Babies born after the effectivity of this decree
must be registered in the office of the local civil registrar of the place of birth within thirty (30)
days after birth, by the attending physician, nurse, midwife, hilot or hospitals or clinic
administrator or, in default of the same, by either parent or a responsible member of the family
or any person who has knowledge of the birth.
The parents or the responsible member of the family and the attendant at birth or the hospital or
clinic administrator referred to above shall be jointly liable in case they fail to register the new
born child. If there was no attendant at birth, or if the child was not born in a hospital or
maternity clinic, then the parents or the responsible member of the family alone shall be
primarily liable in case of failure to register the new born child. (Emphasis supplied)
Presidential Decree No. 76612 amended P.D. No. 651 by extending the period of registration up
to 31 December 1975. P.D. No. 651, as amended, provided for special registration within a
specified period to address the problem of under-registration of births as well as deaths. It
allowed, without fine or fee of any kind, the late registration of births and deaths occurring within
the period starting from 1 January 1974 up to the date when the decree became
effective.1awphi1
Since Reynaldo was born on 30 October 1948, the late registration of his birth is outside of the
coverage of P.D. No. 651, as amended. The late registration of Reynaldos birth falls under Act
No. 3753, otherwise known as the Civil Registry Law, which took effect on 27 February 1931.
As a general law, Act No. 3753 applies to the registration of all births, not otherwise covered by
P.D. No. 651, as amended, occurring from 27 February 1931 onwards. Considering that the late
registration of Reynaldos birth took place in 1985, National Census Statistics Office (NCSO)
Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 198313 governs the implementation of Act No. 3753 in this
case.
Under NCSO A.O. No. 1-83, the birth of a child shall be registered in the office of the local civil
registrar within 30 days from the time of birth. 14 Any report of birth made beyond the
reglementary period is considered delayed.15 The local civil registrar, upon receiving an
application for delayed registration of birth, is required to publicly post for at least ten days a
notice of the pending application for delayed registration.16 If after ten days no one opposes the
registration and the local civil registrar is convinced beyond doubt that the birth should be
registered, he should register the same.17
Reynaldos certificate of live birth, as a duly registered public document, is presumed to have
gone through the process prescribed by law for late registration of birth. It was only on 8 March
55
1995, after the lapse of ten long years from the approval on 11 February 1985 of the application
for delayed registration of Reynaldos birth, that Nieves registered her opposition. She should
have done so within the ten-day period prescribed by law. Records18 show that no less than
Nieves herself informed the local civil registrar of the birth of Reynaldo. At the time of her
application for delayed registration of birth, Nieves claimed that Reynaldo was her son. Between
the facts stated in a duly registered public document and the flip-flopping statements of Nieves,
we are more inclined to stand by the former.
Applications for delayed registration of birth go through a rigorous process. The books making
up the civil register are considered public documents and are prima facie evidence of the truth
of the facts stated there.19 As a public document, a registered certificate of live birth enjoys the
presumption of validity.20 It is not for Reynaldo to prove the facts stated in his certificate of live
birth, but for petitioners who are assailing the certificate to prove its alleged falsity. Petitioners
miserably failed to do so. Thus, the trial court and the Court of Appeals correctly denied for lack
of merit the petition to cancel the late registration of Reynaldos birth.
WHEREFORE, we DENY the petition. We AFFIRM the 8 August 2005 Decision and the 22
November 2005 Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA G.R. CV No. 65693 affirming the 16
August 1999 Order of the Regional Trial Court (Branch 74) of Olongapo City in Civil Case No.
79-0-95.
Costs against petitioners.
SO ORDERED.
Footnotes
*
Designated additional member per Raffle dated 5 July 2010.
**
Designated additional member per Special Order No. 858.
***
Designated additional member per Special Order No. 863.
Under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court.
Rollo, pp. 28-38. Penned by Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, with Presiding
Justice Romeo A. Brawner and Associate Justice Edgardo P. Cruz, concurring.
3
Id. at 39-40. Penned by Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza, with Associate
Justices Conrado M. Vasquez, Jr. and Edgardo P. Cruz, concurring.
4
Records, pp. 106-109.
Id. at 4.
Id. at 1-3.
56
Id. at 106-109.
Id. at 108-109.
Rollo, pp. 28-38.
10
CA rollo, p. 61.
11
Id. at 71-72.
12
Effective 8 August 1975.
13
Amended by NCSO Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1993.
14
Rule 8 of NCSO Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1983.
15
Rule 46 of NCSO Administrative Order No.1, Series of 1983.
16
17
18
Records, p. 4.
19
Sec. 13, Act No. 3753, otherwise known as the Civil Registry Law.
20
Yturralde v. Vagilidad, 138 Phil. 416 (1969).
57
Case: Silverio v. Republic

G.R. No. 174689
October 22, 2007
ROMMEL JACINTO DANTES SILVERIO, petitioner,

vs.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent.
DECISION
CORONA, J.:
When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God; He created them male
and female. (Genesis 5:1-2)
Amihan gazed upon the bamboo reed planted by Bathala and she heard voices coming
from inside the bamboo. "Oh North Wind! North Wind! Please let us out!," the voices
said. She pecked the reed once, then twice. All of a sudden, the bamboo cracked and
slit open. Out came two human beings; one was a male and the other was a female.
Amihan named the man "Malakas" (Strong) and the woman "Maganda" (Beautiful). (The
Legend of Malakas and Maganda)
When is a man a man and when is a woman a woman? In particular, does the law recognize the
changes made by a physician using scalpel, drugs and counseling with regard to a persons
sex? May a person successfully petition for a change of name and sex appearing in the birth
certificate to reflect the result of a sex reassignment surgery?
On November 26, 2002, petitioner Rommel Jacinto Dantes Silverio filed a petition for the
change of his first name and sex in his birth certificate in the Regional Trial Court of Manila,
Branch 8. The petition, docketed as SP Case No. 02-105207, impleaded the civil registrar of
Manila as respondent.
Petitioner alleged in his petition that he was born in the City of Manila to the spouses Melecio
Petines Silverio and Anita Aquino Dantes on April 4, 1962. His name was registered as
"Rommel Jacinto Dantes Silverio" in his certificate of live birth (birth certificate). His sex was
registered as "male."
He further alleged that he is a male transsexual, that is, "anatomically male but feels, thinks and
acts as a female" and that he had always identified himself with girls since childhood. 1 Feeling
trapped in a mans body, he consulted several doctors in the United States. He underwent
psychological examination, hormone treatment and breast augmentation. His attempts to
transform himself to a "woman" culminated on January 27, 2001 when he underwent sex
reassignment surgery2 in Bangkok, Thailand. He was thereafter examined by Dr. Marcelino
Reysio-Cruz, Jr., a plastic and reconstruction surgeon in the Philippines, who issued a medical
certificate attesting that he (petitioner) had in fact undergone the procedure.
From then on, petitioner lived as a female and was in fact engaged to be married. He then
sought to have his name in his birth certificate changed from "Rommel Jacinto" to "Mely," and
his sex from "male" to "female."
58
An order setting the case for initial hearing was published in the Peoples Journal Tonight, a
newspaper of general circulation in Metro Manila, for three consecutive weeks.3 Copies of the
order were sent to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the civil registrar of Manila.
On the scheduled initial hearing, jurisdictional requirements were established. No opposition to
the petition was made.
During trial, petitioner testified for himself. He also presented Dr. Reysio-Cruz, Jr. and his
American fianc, Richard P. Edel, as witnesses.
On June 4, 2003, the trial court rendered a decision4 in favor of petitioner. Its relevant portions
read:
Petitioner filed the present petition not to evade any law or judgment or any infraction
thereof or for any unlawful motive but solely for the purpose of making his birth records
compatible with his present sex.
The sole issue here is whether or not petitioner is entitled to the relief asked for.
The [c]ourt rules in the affirmative.
Firstly, the [c]ourt is of the opinion that granting the petition would be more in
consonance with the principles of justice and equity. With his sexual [re-assignment],
petitioner, who has always felt, thought and acted like a woman, now possesses the
physique of a female. Petitioners misfortune to be trapped in a mans body is not his
own doing and should not be in any way taken against him.
Likewise, the [c]ourt believes that no harm, injury [or] prejudice will be caused to
anybody or the community in granting the petition. On the contrary, granting the petition
would bring the much-awaited happiness on the part of the petitioner and her [fianc]
and the realization of their dreams.
Finally, no evidence was presented to show any cause or ground to deny the present
petition despite due notice and publication thereof. Even the State, through the [OSG]
has not seen fit to interpose any [o]pposition.
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered GRANTING the petition and ordering the
Civil Registrar of Manila to change the entries appearing in the Certificate of Birth of
[p]etitioner, specifically for petitioners first name from "Rommel Jacinto" to MELY and
petitioners gender from "Male" to FEMALE. 5
On August 18, 2003, the Republic of the Philippines (Republic), thru the OSG, filed a petition for
certiorari in the Court of Appeals.6 It alleged that there is no law allowing the change of entries in
the birth certificate by reason of sex alteration.
On February 23, 2006, the Court of Appeals7 rendered a decision8 in favor of the Republic. It
ruled that the trial courts decision lacked legal basis. There is no law allowing the change of
either name or sex in the certificate of birth on the ground of sex reassignment through surgery.
Thus, the Court of Appeals granted the Republics petition, set aside the decision of the trial
59
court and ordered the dismissal of SP Case No. 02-105207. Petitioner moved for
reconsideration but it was denied.9 Hence, this petition.
Petitioner essentially claims that the change of his name and sex in his birth certificate is
allowed under Articles 407 to 413 of the Civil Code, Rules 103 and 108 of the Rules of Court
and RA 9048.10
The petition lacks merit.
A Persons First Name Cannot Be Changed On the Ground of Sex Reassignment
Petitioner invoked his sex reassignment as the ground for his petition for change of name and
sex. As found by the trial court:
Petitioner filed the present petition not to evade any law or judgment or any infraction
thereof or for any unlawful motive but solely for the purpose of making his birth
records compatible with his present sex. (emphasis supplied)
Petitioner believes that after having acquired the physical features of a female, he became
entitled to the civil registry changes sought. We disagree.
The State has an interest in the names borne by individuals and entities for purposes of
identification.11 A change of name is a privilege, not a right.12 Petitions for change of name are
controlled by statutes.13 In this connection, Article 376 of the Civil Code provides:
ART. 376. No person can change his name or surname without judicial authority.
This Civil Code provision was amended by RA 9048 (Clerical Error Law). In particular, Section 1
of RA 9048 provides:
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.
RA 9048 now governs the change of first name.14 It vests the power and authority to entertain
petitions for change of first name to the city or municipal civil registrar or consul general
concerned. Under the law, therefore, jurisdiction over applications for change of first name is
now primarily lodged with the aforementioned administrative officers. The intent and effect of the
law is to exclude the change of first name from the coverage of Rules 103 (Change of Name)
and 108 (Cancellation or Correction of Entries in the Civil Registry) of the Rules of Court, until
and unless an administrative petition for change of name is first filed and subsequently
denied.15 It likewise lays down the corresponding venue,16 form17 and procedure. In sum, the
remedy and the proceedings regulating change of first name are primarily administrative in
nature, not judicial.
RA 9048 likewise provides the grounds for which change of first name may be allowed:
60
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:
(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 first name or nickname in the
community; or
(3) The change will avoid confusion.
Petitioners basis in praying for the change of his first name was his sex reassignment. He
intended to make his first name compatible with the sex he thought he transformed himself into
through surgery. However, a change of name does not alter ones legal capacity or civil
status.18 RA 9048 does not sanction a change of first name on the ground of sex reassignment.
Rather than avoiding confusion, changing petitioners first name for his declared purpose may
only create grave complications in the civil registry and the public interest.
Before a person can legally change his given name, he must present proper or reasonable
cause or any compelling reason justifying such change.19 In addition, he must show that he will
be prejudiced by the use of his true and official name.20 In this case, he failed to show, or even
allege, any prejudice that he might suffer as a result of using his true and official name.
In sum, the petition in the trial court in so far as it prayed for the change of petitioners first name
was not within that courts primary jurisdiction as the petition should have been filed with the
local civil registrar concerned, assuming it could be legally done. It was an improper remedy
because the proper remedy was administrative, that is, that provided under RA 9048. It was
also filed in the wrong venue as the proper venue was in the Office of the Civil Registrar of
Manila where his birth certificate is kept. More importantly, it had no merit since the use of his
true and official name does not prejudice him at all. For all these reasons, the Court of Appeals
correctly dismissed petitioners petition in so far as the change of his first name was concerned.
No Law Allows The Change of Entry In The Birth Certificate As To Sex On the Ground of
Sex Reassignment
The determination of a persons sex appearing in his birth certificate is a legal issue and the
court must look to the statutes.21 In this connection, Article 412 of the Civil Code provides:
ART. 412. No entry in the civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial
order.
Together with Article 376 of the Civil Code, this provision was amended by RA 9048 in so far
as clerical or typographical errors are involved. The correction or change of such matters can
now be made through administrative proceedings and without the need for a judicial order. In
effect, RA 9048 removed from the ambit of Rule 108 of the Rules of Court the correction of such
errors.22 Rule 108 now applies only to substantial changes and corrections in entries in the civil
register.23
Section 2(c) of RA 9048 defines what a "clerical or typographical error" is:
61
SECTION 2. Definition of Terms. As used in this Act, the following terms shall mean:
xxx
xxx
xxx
(3) "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. (emphasis
supplied)
Under RA 9048, a correction in the civil registry involving the change of sex is not a mere
clerical or typographical error. It is a substantial change for which the applicable procedure is
Rule 108 of the Rules of Court.
The entries envisaged in Article 412 of the Civil Code and correctable under Rule 108 of the
Rules of Court are those provided in Articles 407 and 408 of the Civil Code:24
ART. 407. Acts, events and judicial decrees concerning the civil status of persons shall
be recorded in the civil register.
ART. 408. The following shall be entered in the civil register:
(1) Births; (2) marriages; (3) deaths; (4) legal separations; (5) annulments of marriage;
(6) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (7) legitimations; (8)
adoptions; (9) acknowledgments of natural children; (10) naturalization; (11) loss, or (12)
recovery of citizenship; (13) civil interdiction; (14) judicial determination of filiation; (15)
voluntary emancipation of a minor; and (16) changes of name.
The acts, events or factual errors contemplated under Article 407 of the Civil Code include even
those that occur after birth.25 However, no reasonable interpretation of the provision can justify
the conclusion that it covers the correction on the ground of sex reassignment.
To correct simply means "to make or set aright; to remove the faults or error from" while to
change means "to replace something with something else of the same kind or with something
that serves as a substitute."26 The birth certificate of petitioner contained no error. All entries
therein, including those corresponding to his first name and sex, were all correct. No correction
is necessary.
Article 407 of the Civil Code authorizes the entry in the civil registry of certain acts (such as
legitimations, acknowledgments of illegitimate children and naturalization), events (such as
births, marriages, naturalization and deaths) and judicial decrees (such as legal separations,
annulments of marriage, declarations of nullity of marriages, adoptions, naturalization, loss or
recovery of citizenship, civil interdiction, judicial determination of filiation and changes of name).
These acts, events and judicial decrees produce legal consequences that touch upon the legal
capacity, status and nationality of a person. Their effects are expressly sanctioned by the laws.
In contrast, sex reassignment is not among those acts or events mentioned in Article 407.
Neither is it recognized nor even mentioned by any law, expressly or impliedly.
62
"Status" refers to the circumstances affecting the legal situation (that is, the sum total of
capacities and incapacities) of a person in view of his age, nationality and his family
membership.27
The status of a person in law includes all his personal qualities and relations, more or
less permanent in nature, not ordinarily terminable at his own will, such as his
being legitimate or illegitimate, or his being married or not. The comprehensive
term status include such matters as the beginning and end of legal personality,
capacity to have rights in general, family relations, and its various aspects, such as birth,
legitimation, adoption, emancipation, marriage, divorce, and sometimes even
succession.28 (emphasis supplied)
A persons sex is an essential factor in marriage and family relations. It is a part of a persons
legal capacity and civil status. In this connection, Article 413 of the Civil Code provides:
ART. 413. All other matters pertaining to the registration of civil status shall be governed
by special laws.
But there is no such special law in the Philippines governing sex reassignment and its effects.
This is fatal to petitioners cause.
Moreover, Section 5 of Act 3753 (the Civil Register Law) provides:
SEC. 5. Registration and certification of births. The declaration of the physician or
midwife in attendance at the birth or, in default thereof, the declaration of either parent of
the newborn child, shall be sufficient for the registration of a birth in the civil register.
Such declaration shall be exempt from documentary stamp tax and shall be sent to the
local civil registrar not later than thirty days after the birth, by the physician or midwife in
attendance at the birth or by either parent of the newborn child.
In such declaration, the person above mentioned shall certify to the following facts: (a)
date and hour of birth; (b) sex and nationality of infant; (c) names, citizenship and
religion of parents or, in case the father is not known, of the mother alone; (d) civil status
of parents; (e) place where the infant was born; and (f) such other data as may be
required in the regulations to be issued.
xxx
xxx
xxx (emphasis supplied)
Under the Civil Register Law, a birth certificate is a historical record of the facts as they existed
at the time of birth.29Thus, the sex of a person is determined at birth, visually done by the birth
attendant (the physician or midwife) by examining the genitals of the infant. Considering that
there is no law legally recognizing sex reassignment, the determination of a persons sex made
at the time of his or her birth, if not attended by error,30 is immutable.31
When words are not defined in a statute they are to be given their common and ordinary
meaning in the absence of a contrary legislative intent. The words "sex," "male" and "female" as
used in the Civil Register Law and laws concerning the civil registry (and even all other laws)
should therefore be understood in their common and ordinary usage, there being no legislative
intent to the contrary. In this connection, sex is defined as "the sum of peculiarities of structure
and function that distinguish a male from a female"32 or "the distinction between male and
63
female."33Female is "the sex that produces ova or bears young"34 and male is "the sex that has
organs to produce spermatozoa for fertilizing ova."35 Thus, the words "male" and "female" in
everyday understanding do not include persons who have undergone sex reassignment.
Furthermore, "words that are employed in a statute which had at the time a well-known meaning
are presumed to have been used in that sense unless the context compels to the
contrary."36 Since the statutory language of the Civil Register Law was enacted in the early
1900s and remains unchanged, it cannot be argued that the term "sex" as used then is
something alterable through surgery or something that allows a post-operative male-to-female
transsexual to be included in the category "female."
For these reasons, while petitioner may have succeeded in altering his body and appearance
through the intervention of modern surgery, no law authorizes the change of entry as to sex in
the civil registry for that reason. Thus, there is no legal basis for his petition for the correction or
change of the entries in his birth certificate.
Neither May Entries in the Birth Certificate As to First Name or Sex Be Changed on the
Ground of Equity
The trial court opined that its grant of the petition was in consonance with the principles of
justice and equity. It believed that allowing the petition would cause no harm, injury or prejudice
to anyone. This is wrong.
The changes sought by petitioner will have serious and wide-ranging legal and public policy
consequences. First, even the trial court itself found that the petition was but petitioners first
step towards his eventual marriage to his male fianc. However, marriage, one of the most
sacred social institutions, is a special contract of permanent unionbetween a man and a
woman.37 One of its essential requisites is the legal capacity of the contracting parties who must
be a male and a female.38 To grant the changes sought by petitioner will substantially
reconfigure and greatly alter the laws on marriage and family relations. It will allow the union of
a man with another man who has undergone sex reassignment (a male-to-female postoperative transsexual). Second, there are various laws which apply particularly to women such
as the provisions of the Labor Code on employment of women,39 certain felonies under the
Revised Penal Code40 and the presumption of survivorship in case of calamities under Rule 131
of the Rules of Court,41 among others. These laws underscore the public policy in relation to
women which could be substantially affected if petitioners petition were to be granted.
It is true that Article 9 of the Civil Code mandates that "[n]o judge or court shall decline to render
judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the law." However, it is not a
license for courts to engage in judicial legislation. The duty of the courts is to apply or interpret
the law, not to make or amend it.
In our system of government, it is for the legislature, should it choose to do so, to determine
what guidelines should govern the recognition of the effects of sex reassignment. The need for
legislative guidelines becomes particularly important in this case where the claims asserted are
statute-based.
To reiterate, the statutes define who may file petitions for change of first name and for correction
or change of entries in the civil registry, where they may be filed, what grounds may be invoked,
what proof must be presented and what procedures shall be observed. If the legislature intends
to confer on a person who has undergone sex reassignment the privilege to change his name
64
and sex to conform with his reassigned sex, it has to enact legislation laying down the
guidelines in turn governing the conferment of that privilege.
It might be theoretically possible for this Court to write a protocol on when a person may be
recognized as having successfully changed his sex. However, this Court has no authority to
fashion a law on that matter, or on anything else. The Court cannot enact a law where no law
exists. It can only apply or interpret the written word of its co-equal branch of government,
Congress.
Petitioner pleads that "[t]he unfortunates are also entitled to a life of happiness, contentment
and [the] realization of their dreams." No argument about that. The Court recognizes that there
are people whose preferences and orientation do not fit neatly into the commonly recognized
parameters of social convention and that, at least for them, life is indeed an ordeal. However,
the remedies petitioner seeks involve questions of public policy to be addressed solely by the
legislature, not by the courts.
WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby DENIED.
Costs against petitioner.
SO ORDERED.
Footnotes
1
Petitioner went for his elementary and high school, as well as his Bachelor of Science
in Statistics and Master of Arts, in the University of the Philippines. He took up
Population Studies Program, Master of Arts in Sociology and Doctor of Philosophy in
Sociology at the University of Hawaii, in Manoa, Hawaii, U.S.A. Rollo, p. 48.
2
This consisted of "penectomy [surgical removal of penis] bilateral oschiectomy [or

orchiectomy which is the surgical excision of the testes] penile skin inversion
vaginoplasty [plastic surgery of the vagina] clitoral hood reconstruction and
augmentation mammoplasty [surgical enhancement of the size and shape of the
breasts]." Id.
3
On January 23, 2003, January 30, 2003 and February 6, 2003.
Penned by Judge Felixberto T. Olalia, Jr. Rollo, pp. 51-53.
Id., pp. 52-53 (citations omitted).
Docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 78824.
Special Sixth Division.
Penned by Associate Justice Arcangelita M. Romilla-Lontok with Associate Justices

Marina L. Buzon and Aurora Santiago-Lagman concurring. Rollo, pp. 25-33.
9
Resolution dated September 14, 2006, id., pp. 45-46.

65
10
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 the
Purpose Articles 376 and 412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines.
11
Wang v. Cebu City Civil Registrar, G.R. No. 159966, 30 March 2005, 454 SCRA 155.
12
Id.
13
K v. Health Division, Department of Human Resources, 277 Or. 371, 560 P.2d 1070
(1977).
14
Under Section 2 (6) of RA 9048, "first name" refers to a name or nickname given to a
person which may consist of one or more names in addition to the middle names and
last names. Thus, the term "first name" will be used here to refer both to first name and
nickname.
15
The last paragraph of Section 7 of RA 9048 provides:

SECTION 7. Duties and Powers of the Civil Registrar General. xxx xxx xxx
Where the petition is denied by the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul
general, the petitioner may either appeal the decision to the civil registrar general
or file the appropriate petition with the proper court.
16
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.
17
SECTION 5. Form and Contents of the Petition. The petition shall be in the form of
an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by the law to
66
administer oaths. The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to establish the merits of
the petition and shall show affirmatively that the petitioner is competent to testify to the
matters stated. The petitioner shall state the particular erroneous entry or entries, which
are sought to be corrected and/or the change sought to be made.
The petition shall be supported with the following documents:
(1) A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry
book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed;
(2) At least two (2) public or private documents showing the correct entry or
entries upon which the correction or change shall be based; and
(3) Other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or
the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the
petition.
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.
18
Republic v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 97906, 21 May 1992, 209 SCRA 189.
19
Supra note 11.
20
Id.
21
In re Ladrach, 32 Ohio Misc.2d 6, 513 N.E.2d 828 (1987).
22
Lee v. Court of Appeals, 419 Phil. 392 (2001).
23
Id.
24
Co v. Civil Register of Manila, G.R. No. 138496, 23 February 2004, 423 SCRA 420.
25
Id.
26
Id.
27
Beduya v. Republic of the Philippines, 120 Phil. 114 (1964).
28
Salonga, Jovito, Private International Law, 1995 Edition, Rex Bookstore, p. 238.
29
This, of course, should be taken in conjunction with Articles 407 and 412 of the Civil
Code which authorizes the recording of acts, events and judicial decrees or the
correction or change of errors including those that occur after birth. Nonetheless, in such
67
cases, the entries in the certificates of birth are not be corrected or changed. The
decision of the court granting the petition shall be annotated in the certificates of birth
and shall form part of the civil register in the Office of the Local Civil Registrar. (Co v.
Civil Register of Manila, supra note 24)
30
The error pertains to one where the birth attendant writes "male" or "female" but the
genitals of the child are that of the opposite sex.
31
Moreover, petitioners female anatomy is all man-made. The body that he inhabits is a
male body in all aspects other than what the physicians have supplied.
32
Blacks Law Dictionary, 8th edition (2004), p.1406.
33
Words and Phrases, volume 39, Permanent Edition, p. 106.
34
In re Application for Marriage License for Nash, 2003-Ohio-7221 (No. 2002-T-0149,

slip op., Not Reported in N.E.2d, 2003 WL 23097095 (Ohio App. 11 Dist., December 31,
2003), citing Websters II New College Dictionary (1999).
35
Id.
36
Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911), 31 S.Ct. 502, 55 L.Ed. 619.
37
Article 1, Family Code.
38
Article 2(1), Id.
39
These are Articles 130 to 138 of the Labor Code which include nightwork prohibition,
facilities for women, prohibition on discrimination and stipulation against marriage,
among others.
40
These include Article 333 on adultery, Articles 337 to 339 on qualified seduction,
simple seduction and acts of lasciviousness with the consent of the offended party and
Articles 342 and 343 on forcible and consented abduction, among others.
41
Section 3(jj)(4).
68
Case: Republic v. Cagandahan
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES,Petitioner,

- versus JENNIFER B. CAGANDAHAN,Respondent.
G.R. No. 166676
September 12, 2008
x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
DECISION
QUISUMBING, J.:
This is a petition for review under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court raising purely questions of law
and seeking a reversal of the Decision[1] dated January 12, 2005 of the Regional Trial Court
(RTC), Branch 33 of Siniloan, Laguna, which granted the Petition for Correction of Entries in
Birth Certificate filed by Jennifer B. Cagandahan and ordered the following changes of entries in
Cagandahans birth certificate: (1) the name "Jennifer Cagandahan" changed to "Jeff
Cagandahan" and (2) gender from "female" to "male."
The facts are as follows.
On December 11, 2003, respondent Jennifer Cagandahan filed a Petition for Correction of
Entries in Birth Certificate2 before the RTC, Branch 33 of Siniloan, Laguna.
In her petition, she alleged that she was born on January 13, 1981 and was registered as a
female in the Certificate of Live Birth but while growing up, she developed secondary male
characteristics and was diagnosed to have Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) which is a
condition where persons thus afflicted possess both male and female characteristics. She
further alleged that she was diagnosed to have clitoral hyperthropy in her early years and at age
six, underwent an ultrasound where it was discovered that she has small ovaries. At age
thirteen, tests revealed that her ovarian structures had minimized, she has stopped growing and
she has no breast or menstrual development. She then alleged that for all interests and
appearances as well as in mind and emotion, she has become a male person. Thus, she prayed
that her birth certificate be corrected such that her gender be changed from female to male and
her first name be changed from Jennifer to Jeff.
The petition was published in a newspaper of general circulation for three (3) consecutive
weeks and was posted in conspicuous places by the sheriff of the court. The Solicitor General
entered his appearance and authorized the Assistant Provincial Prosecutor to appear in his
behalf.
To prove her claim, respondent testified and presented the testimony of Dr. Michael Sionzon of
the Department of Psychiatry, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital. Dr.
Sionzon issued a medical certificate stating that respondents condition is known as CAH. He
explained that genetically respondent is female but because her body secretes male hormones,
her female organs did not develop normally and she has two sex organs female and male. He
69
testified that this condition is very rare, that respondents uterus is not fully developed because
of lack of female hormones, and that she has no monthly period. He further testified that
respondents condition is permanent and recommended the change of gender because
respondent has made up her mind, adjusted to her chosen role as male, and the gender change
would be advantageous to her.
The RTC granted respondents petition in a Decision dated January 12, 2005 which reads:
The Court is convinced that petitioner has satisfactorily shown that he is entitled to the reliefs
prayed [for]. Petitioner has adequately presented to the Court very clear and convincing proofs
for the granting of his petition. It was medically proven that petitioners body produces male
hormones, and first his body as well as his action and feelings are that of a male. He has
chosen to be male. He is a normal person and wants to be acknowledged and identified as a
male.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Civil Register of Pakil, Laguna is hereby ordered to
make the following corrections in the birth [c]ertificate of Jennifer Cagandahan upon payment of
the prescribed fees:
a) By changing the name from Jennifer Cagandahan to JEFF CAGANDAHAN; and
b) By changing the gender from female to MALE.
It is likewise ordered that petitioners school records, voters registry, baptismal certificate, and
other pertinent records are hereby amended to conform with the foregoing corrected data.
SO ORDERED.[3]
Thus, this petition by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) seeking a reversal of the
abovementioned ruling.
The issues raised by petitioner are:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE PETITION CONSIDERING THAT:
I.
THE REQUIREMENTS OF RULES 103 AND 108 OF THE RULES OF COURT HAVE NOT
BEEN COMPLIED WITH; AND,
II.
CORRECTION OF ENTRY UNDER RULE 108 DOES NOT ALLOW CHANGE OF "SEX" OR
"GENDER" IN THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE, WHILE RESPONDENTS MEDICAL CONDITION,
i.e., CONGENITAL ADRENAL HYPERPLASIA DOES NOT MAKE HER A "MALE."4
Simply stated, the issue is whether the trial court erred in ordering the correction of entries in the
birth certificate of respondent to change her sex or gender, from female to male, on the ground
of her medical condition known as CAH, and her name from "Jennifer" to "Jeff," under Rules
103 and 108 of the Rules of Court.
70
The OSG contends that the petition below is fatally defective for non-compliance with Rules 103
and 108 of the Rules of Court because while the local civil registrar is an indispensable party in
a petition for cancellation or correction of entries under Section 3, Rule 108 of the Rules of
Court, respondents petition before the court a quo did not implead the local civil registrar.5 The
OSG further contends respondents petition is fatally defective since it failed to state that
respondent is a bona fide resident of the province where the petition was filed for at least three
(3) years prior to the date of such filing as mandated under Section 2(b), Rule 103 of the Rules
of Court.6 The OSG argues that Rule 108 does not allow change of sex or gender in the birth
certificate and respondents claimed medical condition known as CAH does not make her a
male.7
On the other hand, respondent counters that although the Local Civil Registrar of Pakil, Laguna
was not formally named a party in the Petition for Correction of Birth Certificate, nonetheless the
Local Civil Registrar was furnished a copy of the Petition, the Order to publish on December 16,
2003 and all pleadings, orders or processes in the course of the proceedings,8 respondent is
actually a male person and hence his birth certificate has to be corrected to reflect his true
sex/gender,9 change of sex or gender is allowed under Rule 108,10 and respondent
substantially complied with the requirements of Rules 103 and 108 of the Rules of Court.11
Rules 103 and 108 of the Rules of Court provide:
Rule 103
CHANGE OF NAME
Section 1. Venue. A person desiring to change his name shall present the petition to the
Regional Trial Court of the province in which he resides, [or, in the City of Manila, to the
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court].
Sec. 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;
(b) The cause for which the change of the petitioner's name is sought;
(c) The name asked for.
Sec. 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) months after the last publication of the notice.
Sec. 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.
71
Sec. 5. Judgment. Upon satisfactory proof in open court on the date fixed in the order that
such order has been published as directed and that the allegations of the petition are true, the
court shall, if proper and reasonable cause appears for changing the name of the petitioner,
adjudge that such name be changed in accordance with the prayer of the petition.
Sec. 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.
Rule 108
CANCELLATION OR CORRECTION OF ENTRIES
IN THE CIVIL REGISTRY
Section 1. Who may file petition. Any person interested in any act, event, order or decree
concerning the civil status of persons which has been recorded in the civil register, may file a
verified petition for the cancellation or correction of any entry relating thereto, with the Regional
Trial Court of the province where the corresponding civil registry is located.
Sec. 2. Entries subject to cancellation or correction. Upon good and valid grounds, the
following entries in the civil register may be cancelled or corrected: (a) births; (b) marriages; (c)
deaths; (d) legal separations; (e) judgments of annulments of marriage; (f) judgments declaring
marriages void from the beginning; (g) legitimations; (h) adoptions; (i) acknowledgments of
natural children; (j) naturalization; (k) election, loss or recovery of citizenship; (l) civil interdiction;
(m) judicial determination of filiation; (n) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and (o) changes of
name.
Sec. 3. Parties. When cancellation or correction of an entry in the civil register is sought, the
civil registrar and all persons who have or claim any interest which would be affected thereby
shall be made parties to the proceeding.
Sec. 4. Notice and publication. Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall, by an order, fix
the time and place for the hearing of the same, and cause reasonable notice thereof to be given
to the persons named in the petition. The court shall also cause the order to be published once
a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the province.
Sec. 5. Opposition. The civil registrar and any person having or claiming any interest under
the entry whose cancellation or correction is sought may, within fifteen (15) days from notice of
the petition, or from the last date of publication of such notice, file his opposition thereto.
Sec. 6. Expediting proceedings. The court in which the proceedings is brought may make
orders expediting the proceedings, and may also grant preliminary injunction for the
preservation of the rights of the parties pending such proceedings.
Sec. 7. Order. After hearing, the court may either dismiss the petition or issue an order
granting the cancellation or correction prayed for. In either case, a certified copy of the judgment
shall be served upon the civil registrar concerned who shall annotate the same in his record.
The OSG argues that the petition below is fatally defective for non-compliance with Rules 103
and 108 of the Rules of Court because respondents petition did not implead the local civil
72
registrar. Section 3, Rule 108 provides that the civil registrar and all persons who have or claim
any interest which would be affected thereby shall be made parties to the proceedings.
Likewise, the local civil registrar is required to be made a party in a proceeding for the correction
of name in the civil registry. He is an indispensable party without whom no final determination of
the case can be had.[12] Unless all possible indispensable parties were duly notified of the
proceedings, the same shall be considered as falling much too short of the requirements of the
rules.13 The corresponding petition should also implead as respondents the civil registrar and
all other persons who may have or may claim to have any interest that would be affected
thereby.14 Respondent, however, invokes Section 6,[15] Rule 1 of the Rules of Court which
states that courts shall construe the Rules liberally to promote their objectives of securing to the
parties a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of the matters brought before it. We agree
that there is substantial compliance with Rule 108 when respondent furnished a copy of the
petition to the local civil registrar.
The determination of a persons sex appearing in his birth certificate is a legal issue and the
court must look to the statutes. In this connection, Article 412 of the Civil Code provides:
ART. 412. No entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order.
Together with Article 376[16] of the Civil Code, this provision was amended by Republic Act No.
9048[17] in so far as clerical or typographical errors are involved. The correction or change of
such matters can now be made through administrative proceedings and without the need for a
judicial order. In effect, Rep. Act No. 9048 removed from the ambit of Rule 108 of the Rules of
Court the correction of such errors. Rule 108 now applies only to substantial changes and
corrections in entries in the civil register.18
Under Rep. Act No. 9048, a correction in the civil registry involving the change of sex is not a
mere clerical or typographical error. It is a substantial change for which the applicable procedure
is Rule 108 of the Rules of Court.19
The entries envisaged in Article 412 of the Civil Code and correctable under Rule 108 of the
Rules of Court are those provided in Articles 407 and 408 of the Civil Code:
ART. 407. Acts, events and judicial decrees concerning the civil status of persons shall be
recorded in the civil register.
ART. 408. The following shall be entered in the civil register:
(1) Births; (2) marriages; (3) deaths; (4) legal separations; (5) annulments of marriage; (6)
judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (7) legitimations; (8) adoptions; (9)
acknowledgments of natural children; (10) naturalization; (11) loss, or (12) recovery of
citizenship; (13) civil interdiction; (14) judicial determination of filiation; (15) voluntary
emancipation of a minor; and (16) changes of name.
The acts, events or factual errors contemplated under Article 407 of the Civil Code include even
those that occur after birth.20
Respondent undisputedly has CAH. This condition causes the early or "inappropriate"
appearance of male characteristics. A person, like respondent, with this condition produces too
much androgen, a male hormone. A newborn who has XX chromosomes coupled with CAH
usually has a (1) swollen clitoris with the urethral opening at the base, an ambiguous genitalia
73
often appearing more male than female; (2) normal internal structures of the female
reproductive tract such as the ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes; as the child grows older,
some features start to appear male, such as deepening of the voice, facial hair, and failure to
menstruate at puberty. About 1 in 10,000 to 18,000 children are born with CAH.
CAH is one of many conditions[21] that involve intersex anatomy. During the twentieth century,
medicine adopted the term "intersexuality" to apply to human beings who cannot be classified
as either male or female.[22] The term is now of widespread use. According to Wikipedia,
intersexuality "is the state of a living thing of a gonochoristic species whose sex chromosomes,
genitalia, and/or secondary sex characteristics are determined to be neither exclusively male
nor female. An organism with intersex may have biological characteristics of both male and
female sexes."
Intersex individuals are treated in different ways by different cultures. In most societies, intersex
individuals have been expected to conform to either a male or female gender role.[23] Since the
rise of modern medical science in Western societies, some intersex people with ambiguous
external genitalia have had their genitalia surgically modified to resemble either male or female
genitals.[24] More commonly, an intersex individual is considered as suffering from a "disorder"
which is almost always recommended to be treated, whether by surgery and/or by taking
lifetime medication in order to mold the individual as neatly as possible into the category of
either male or female.
In deciding this case, we consider the compassionate calls for recognition of the various
degrees of intersex as variations which should not be subject to outright denial. "It has been
suggested that there is some middle ground between the sexes, a no-mans land for those
individuals who are neither truly male nor truly female."[25] The current state of Philippine
statutes apparently compels that a person be classified either as a male or as a female, but this
Court is not controlled by mere appearances when nature itself fundamentally negates such
rigid classification.
In the instant case, if we determine respondent to be a female, then there is no basis for a
change in the birth certificate entry for gender. But if we determine, based on medical testimony
and scientific development showing the respondent to be other than female, then a change in
the
subjects birth certificate entry is in order.
Biologically, nature endowed respondent with a mixed (neither consistently and categorically
female nor consistently and categorically male) composition. Respondent has female (XX)
chromosomes. However, respondents body system naturally produces high levels of male
hormones (androgen). As a result, respondent has ambiguous genitalia and the phenotypic
features of a male.
Ultimately, we are of the view that where the person is biologically or naturally intersex the
determining factor in his gender classification would be what the individual, like respondent,
having reached the age of majority, with good reason thinks of his/her sex. Respondent here
thinks of himself as a male and considering that his body produces high levels of male
hormones (androgen) there is preponderant biological support for considering him as being
male. Sexual development in cases of intersex persons makes the gender classification at birth
inconclusive. It is at maturity that the gender of such persons, like respondent, is fixed.
74
Respondent here has 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,[26] 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 respondents development to
reveal more fully his male characteristics.
In the absence of a law on the matter, the Court will not dictate on respondent concerning a
matter so innately private as ones sexuality and lifestyle preferences, much less on whether or
not to undergo medical treatment to reverse the male tendency due to CAH. The Court will not
consider respondent as having erred in not choosing to undergo treatment in order to become
or remain as a female. Neither will the Court force respondent to undergo treatment and to take
medication in order to fit the mold of a female, as society commonly currently knows this gender
of the human species. Respondent is the one who has to live with his intersex anatomy. To him
belongs the human right to the pursuit of happiness and of health. Thus, to him should belong
the primordial choice of what courses of action to take along the path of his sexual development
and maturation. In the absence of evidence that respondent is an "incompetent"[27] and in the
absence of evidence to show that classifying respondent as a male will harm other members of
society who are equally entitled to protection under the law, the Court affirms as valid and
justified the respondents position and his personal judgment of being a male.
In so ruling we do no more than give respect to (1) the diversity of nature; and (2) how an
individual deals with what nature has handed out. In other words, we respect respondents
congenital condition and his mature decision to be a male. Life is already difficult for the
ordinary person. We cannot but respect how respondent deals with his unordinary state and
thus help make his life easier, considering the unique circumstances in this case.
As for respondents change of name under Rule 103, this Court has held that a change of name
is not a matter of right but of judicial discretion, to be exercised in the light of the reasons
adduced and the consequences that will follow.[28] The trial courts grant of respondents
change of name from Jennifer to Jeff implies a change of a feminine name to a masculine
name. Considering the consequence that respondents change of name merely recognizes his
preferred gender, we find merit in respondents change of name. Such a change will conform
with the change of the entry in his birth certificate from female to male.
WHEREFORE, the Republics petition is DENIED. The Decision dated January 12, 2005 of the
Regional Trial Court, Branch 33 of Siniloan, Laguna, is AFFIRMED. No pronouncement as to
costs.
SO ORDERED.
1 Rollo, pp. 29-32. Penned by Judge Florenio P. Bueser.
2 Id. at 33-37.
3 Id. at 31-32.
4 Id. at 97.
5 Id. at 99.
75
6 Id. at 103.
7 Id. at 104.
8 Id. at 136.
9 Id. at 127.
10 Id. at 134.
11 Id. at 136.
12 Republic v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 103695, March 15, 1996, 255 SCRA 99, 106.
13 Ceruila v. Delantar, G.R. No. 140305, December 9, 2005, 477 SCRA 134, 147.
14 Republic v. Benemerito, G.R. No. 146963, March 15, 2004, 425 SCRA 488, 492.
15 SEC. 6. Construction.- These Rules shall be liberally construed in order to promote their
objective of securing a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and proceeding.
16 Art. 376. No person can change his name or surname without judicial authority.
17 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 Registrar Without Need of a Judicial Order, Amending for this Purpose Articles 376 and
412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. Approved, March 22, 2001.
18 Silverio v. Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 174689, October 19, 2007, 537 SCRA 373,
388.
19 Id. at 389.
20 Id. at 389.
21 (1) 5-alpha reductase deficiency; (2) androgen insensitivity syndrome; (3) aphallia; (4)
clitoromegaly; (5) congenital adrenal hyperplasia; (6) gonadal dysgenesis (partial & complete);
(7) hypospadias; (8) Kallmann syndrome; (9) Klinefelter syndrome; (10) micropenis; (11)
mosaicism involving sex chromosomes; (12) MRKH (mullerian agenesis; vaginal agenesis;
congenital absence of vagina); (13) ovo-testes (formerly called "true hermaphroditism"); (14)
partial androgen insensitivity syndrome; (15) progestin induced virilization; (16) Swyer
syndrome; (17) Turner syndrome. [Intersexuality <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexual>
(visited August 15, 2008).]
22 Intersexuality <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexual> (visited August 15, 2008).
23 Intersexuality <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexual> (visited August 15, 2008), citing
Gagnon and Simon 1973.
24 Intersexuality <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersexual> (visited August 15, 2008).
76
25 M.T. v. J.T. 140 N.J. Super 77 355 A. 2d 204.

26 The goal of treatment is to return hormone levels to normal. This is done by taking a form of
cortisol (dexamethasone), fludrocortisone, or hydrocortisone) every day. Additional doses of
medicine are needed during times of stress, such as severe illness or surgery.
xxxx
Parents of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia should be aware of the side effects of
steroid therapy. They should report signs of infection and stress to their health care provider
because increases in medication may be required. In additional, steroid medications cannot be
stopped suddenly, or adrenal insufficiency will result.
xxxx
The outcome is usually associated with good health, but short stature may result even with
treatment. Males have normal fertility. Females may have a smaller opening of the vagina and
lower fertility. Medication to treat this disorder must be continued for life. (Congenital Adrenal
Hyperplasia <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html>.)
27 The word "incompetent" includes persons suffering the penalty of civil interdiction or who are
hospitalized lepers, prodigals, deaf and dumb who are unable to read and write, those who are
of unsound mind, even though they have lucid intervals, and persons not being of unsound
mind, but by reason of age, disease, weak mind, and other similar causes, cannot, without
outside aid, take care of themselves and manage their property, becoming thereby an easy prey
for deceit and exploitation. (See Sec. 2 of Rule 92 of the Rules of Court)
28 Yu v. Republic of the Philippines, 123 Phil. 1106, 1110 (1966).
77

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LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II

WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians

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the abandoned, neglected, unattached or homeless senior citizens and

LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II

LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II

LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II

(b) Department of Labor and Employment;

LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II

RA 7170 Organ Donor Act of 1991

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE LEGACY OR DONATION OF ALL OR PART OF A HUMAN

LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II

(2) In the opinion of the consulting physician, concurred in by the attending

LEGAL MEDICINE | WEEK 04 Laws Applicable to Physicians II