G.R. No.

170340 June 29, 2007

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, petitioner,

vs.
CARLITO I. KHO, MICHAEL KHO, MERCY NONA KHO-FORTUN, HEDDY MOIRA
KHO-SERRANO, KEVIN DOGMOC KHO (Minor), and KELLY DOGMOC KHO
(Minor), respondents.

Doctrine: Cases of correction of entries in the civil registry are in rem proceedings which bind
the whole world through publication, failure to implead an indispensable party is cured by
publication in these cases because they are made bound by the publication involved.

Facts

This is a petition for correction of entries in the civil registry of Butuan City. Herein
respondents, originally the petitioners, prayed for the correction of some entries in their birth
certificates. Respondent Carlito Kho et al requested to change the citizenship of their mother, as
indicated in their birth certificates, from Chinese to Filipino, and to delete the word married from
their birth certificates indicating that their parents, Epifania Inchoco and Juan Kho, were married
but according to Carlito and his siblings and fellow respondents they are not.

Further “With respect to the birth certificates of Carlito’s children, he prayed that the date
of his and his wife’s marriage be corrected from April 27, 1989 to January 21, 2000, the date
appearing in their marriage certificate.” Carlito further prayed “that Carlito’s second name of
"John" be deleted from his record of birth; and that the name and citizenship of Carlito’s father in
his (Carlito’s) marriage certificate be corrected from "John Kho" to "Juan Kho" and "Filipino" to
"Chinese," respectively.” Furthermore “During the same hearing, an additional correction in the
birth certificates of Carlito’s children was requested to the effect that the first name of their
mother be rectified from "Maribel" to "Marivel."

The trial court granted all of the aforementioned prayers, but the OSG through the Office
of the Prosecutor of Butuan City appealed the case to the higher courts stating that since what
has been altered are the citizenship of the respondents parents and their marriage as well as the
date of Carlito’s marriage with Marivel are substantial alterations because this makes
respondents illegitimate children and affects the citizenship of their parents. Rule 108 must then
be followed requiring an adversarial proceeding which requires that all indispensable parties be
impleaded, in this case Marivel (Carlito the respondent’s wife) and their children were not
impleaded, as well as the respondents’ mother Epifania Inchoco.

The Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the respondents stating that the procedural
requirements under Rule 108 of the ROC were all met. The case was elevated to the Supreme
Court.
 Issue

WON the case failed to follow Rule 108 of the Rules of Court.

Ruling

The court ruled in favor of respondents, corrections involving substantial alterations are
required to undergo adversarial proceedings because “If the entries in the civil register could be
corrected or changed through mere summary proceedings and not through appropriate action
wherein all parties who may be affected by the entries are notified or represented, the door to
fraud or other mischief would be set open, the consequence of which might be detrimental and
far reaching.” However “even substantial errors in a civil registry may be corrected and the true
facts established provided the parties aggrieved by the error avail themselves of the appropriate
adversary proceeding.”

Adversarial proceedings are with “opposing parties; contested, as distinguished from an

ex parte application, one of which the party seeking relief has given legal warning to the other
party, and afforded the latter an opportunity to contest it.”

“Verily, a petition for correction is an action in rem, an action against a thing and not
against a person. The decision on the petition binds not only the parties thereto but the whole
world. An in rem proceeding is validated essentially through publication. Publication is notice to
the whole world that the proceeding has for its object to bar indefinitely all who might be minded
to make an objection of any sort against the right sought to be established. It is the publication of
such notice that brings in the whole world as a party in the case and vests the court with
jurisdiction to hear and decide it. Given the above ruling, it becomes unnecessary to rule on
whether Marivel or respondents’ parents should have been impleaded as parties to the
proceeding.”

“With respect to Carlito’s mother, it bears noting that she declared at the witness stand
that she was not married to Juan Kho who died in 1959.” In which the prosecutor did not oppose.