FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
) 
S. No. sEN$E70 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Executive Order No. 209, as amended, otherwise known as the Family Code of the 
Philippines, Article 174, paragraph 1, provides that “legitimate children shall have the right to 
bear the surname of the father and the mother.” Article 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. 
This bill seeks to amend the said law for the following reasons: 
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 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. 
Second, there are many instances of married women being the only child of their parents. 
Naturally, the latter as much as the former would want the family name continued and/or 
perpetuated.* 
* This bill was originally filed during the Thirteenth Congress, First Regular Session 


8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUsLIC) 
7 
f)[:T 
-2 
i-’ (1 ‘ 5 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
1 
S. No. sEw?o 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
ALLOWING LEGITIMATE CHILDREN TO BEAR THE SURNAME OF THE FATHER OR 
THE MOTHER, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBERED 
TWO-HUNDRED AND NINE (E.O. 209), AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE 
FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES, ARTICLE 174, PARAGRAPH 1 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assem bled: 
SECTION 1. Executive Order Numbered Two-Hundred and Nine (E.O. 209), as 
amended, Article 174, paragraph 1, is hereby amended to read as follows: 
‘‘Art. 174. Legitimate children shall have the right to: 
“(1) To bear the surname[s] of the father or the mother [in conformity 
with the provisions of the Civil Code on surnames;]. TO AVOD 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. ” 
“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, rnle or regulation, or parts thereof, inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, 
modified, or amended accordingly. 
21 
1 


1 
2 
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least 
two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
3 
Approved, 
2