THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First R@dar Session 
, 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Executive Order No. 209, as amended, otherwise known as the Family Code of 
the Philippines, Art. 174, paragraph 1, provides that “legitimate children shall have the 
right to bear the surname of the father and the mother.” Art. 364 of the New Civil Code, 
however, qualifies such provision by stating that between the two (2) surnames that of the 
father shall be principally used. 
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This bill see s to amend the said law for the following reasons: 
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First, the Constitution mandates the State to ensure the fundamental equality 
before the law of women and men. The evident purpose of such mandate is to eliminate 
inequalities found in existing law. These “existing laws” pertain to the Family Code, 
among other laws, specifically Articles 174, paragraph 1. They also refer to Articles 370 
to 372 of the Civil Code and Article 63 of the Family Code which deny a married woman 
the right to use her maiden name separately from that of the husband during the marriage 
and even in the case of legal separation. 
The significance of such constitutional mandate would be dissipated if legitimate 
children, who are as much an extension (if not even more so) of their mother as they are 
of their father, cannot use the surname of the mother. In the same vein, married women 
would remain second fiddle to their husband if this regime of male-parent-surname 
supremacy were to subsist. 


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Second, there are many instances of married women being the only child of their 
Naturally, the latter as much as the former would want the family name 
parents. 
continued and/or perpetuated. 


THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
’04 JUL 22 fl?0%3 
First Regular Session 
) 
G. 
S.B. No. 
4 6 2 
EIECELVEQ YIY :------- 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
ALLOWING LEGITIMATE CHLLDJZEN TO BEAR THE SURNAME OF THE 
FATHER OR THE MOTHER, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE EXECUTIVE 
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES, ART. 
174, PARA. 1 
ORDER NUMBERED TWO-HUNDRED AND NINE (E.0.209), AS AMENDED, 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. - Executive Order Numbered Two-Hundred and Nine (E.O. 209), as 
amended, Art. 174, para.1, is hereby amended to read as follows: 
“Art. 174. Legitimate children shall have the right to: 
“(1) To bear the surname@) of the father or the mother (in 
conformity with the provisions of the Civil Code on surnames;). TO 
AVOID ANY CONFUSION ABOUT PATERNITY WHERE THE CHILD 
USES THE SURNAME OF THE MOTHER, THE FATHER SHALL GIVE 
HIS CONSENT THERETO IN THE CHILD’S RECORD OF BIRTH; A 
STATEMENT BEFORE A COURT OF RECORD, OR IN ANY 
AUTHENTIC WRITING. ’I 
“xx 
xx 
xx” 
“xx 
xx 
xx” 
SECTION 2. Republic Act No. 386, as amended, otherwise known as the Civil 
Code of the Philippines, Articles 364 and 366, Title XIII, Book I, and all laws, decrees, 
executive orders, proclamations, rule or regulation, or parts thereof, inconsistent herewith 
are hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 


SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect fifteen .( 15) days after its publication in at 
least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved. 
FN: 287