PFRDigest – Silverio Vs Republic, G.R. No.

174689 October 22, 2007

Facts: 
Rommel Silverio filed a petition for the change of his gender and first name in his
birth certificate to facilitate his marriage with his fiancé. A year before, Silverio
has underwent sex re-assignment surgery in Bangkok, Thailand. In his petition, he
wants to change his first name from “Rommel” to “Mely.” 

Issue: 
Should the court allow the change of name?

Ruling:
No. The SC said that considering that there is no law recognizing sex re-
assignment, the determination of a person’s sex at the time of birth, if not
attended by error, is immutable. It held that “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. There is no special law in the country governing sex
reassignment and its effect. This is fatal to petitioner’s cause.” 

The Court said that the change in gender sought by petitioner “will have serious
and wide-ranging legal and public policy consequences,” i.e., substantially
reconfigure and greatly alter the laws on marriage and family relations and
substantially affect the public policy in relation to women in laws such as the
provisions of the Labor Code on employment of women, certain felonies under
the Revised Penal Code, etcetera.