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G.R. No. 186053 November 15, 2010 the surname of [respondent] from NISAIDA SUMERA NISHINA to NISAIDA SUMERA
WATANABE."14
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Petitioner,
vs. A copy of the October 8, 2007 Order was received on December 13, 2007 by the OSG
NISAIDA SUMERA NISHINA, represented by ZENAIDA SUMERA which filed, on behalf of petitioner, a notice of appeal.15
WATANABE, Respondent.
Before the Court of Appeals, respondent filed a motion to dismiss 16 the appeal, alleging
DECISION that petitioner adopted a wrong mode of appeal since it did not file a record on appeal as
required under Sections 2 and 3, Rule 41 (appeal from the RTCs) of the 1997 Rules of
CARPIO MORALES, J.: Civil Procedure reading:

Nisaida Sumera Nishina (respondent), represented by her mother Zenaida Sumera SEC. 2. Modes of appeal. –
Watanabe (Zenaida), filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Malolos, Bulacan a
verified petition for cancellation of birth record and change of surname in the civil \
registry of Malolos, Bulacan, docketed as Special Proceedings No. 106-M-2007.1
(a) Ordinary appeal. – The appeal to the Court of Appeals in cases decided by the
In her petition, respondent alleged the following: Regional Trial Court in the exercise of its original jurisdiction shall be taken by filing a
notice of appeal with the court which rendered the judgment or final order appealed
She was born on October 31, 19872 in Malolos, Bulacan to her Filipino mother Zenaida from and serving a copy thereof upon the adverse party. No record on appeal shall be
and Japanese father Koichi Nishina who were married on February 18, 1987. 3 Her father required except in special proceedings and other cases of multiple or separate appeals
later died.4 On July 19, 1989, her mother married another Japanese, Kenichi Hakamada.5 where the law or these Rules so require. In such cases, the record on appeal shall be filed
and served in like manner.
As they could not find any record of her birth at the Malolos civil registry, respondent’s
mother caused the late registration of her birth in 1993 under the surname of her xxxx
mother’s second husband, "Hakamada."6 Her mother and Hakamada eventually
divorced.7 SEC. 3. Period of ordinary appeal. – The appeal shall be taken within fifteen (15) days
from notice of the judgment or final order appealed from. Where a record on appeal is
On May 29, 1996, her mother married another Japanese, Takayuki Watanabe, 8 who later required, the appellant shall file a notice of appeal and a record on appeal within thirty
adopted her by a decree9issued by the Tokyo Family Court of Japan on January 25, 2001. (30) days from notice of the judgment or final order. However, an appeal in habeas
The adoption decree was filed and recorded in the civil registry of Manila in 2006.10 corpus cases shall be taken within forty-eight (48) hours from notice of the judgment or
final order appealed from. (A.M. No. 01-1-03- SC, June 19, 2001)
In 2007, it surfaced that her birth was in fact originally registered at the Malolos Civil
Registry under the name "Nisaida Sumera Nishina,"11 hence, her filing before the RTC of The period of appeal shall be interrupted by a timely motion for new trial or
her petition praying that her second birth certificate bearing the surname "Hakamada," reconsideration. No motion for extension of time to file a motion for new trial or
issued through late registration in 1993, be cancelled; and that in light of the decree of reconsideration shall be allowed. (emphasis, underscoring and italics supplied)
adoption, her surname "Nishina" in the original birth certificate be changed to
"Watanabe."12 xxxx

After hearing the petition, Branch 83 of the RTC, by Order 13 of October 8, SEC. 9. Perfection of appeal; effect thereof. – x x x.
2007, granted respondent’s petition and directed the Local Civil Registry of Malolos "to
cancel the second birth record of Nisaida Sumera Hakamada issued in 1993 [bearing] A party’s appeal by record on appeal is deemed perfected as to him with respect to the
Registry No. 93-06684 and to change it [in its stead] Registry No. 87-04983, particularly subject matter thereof upon the approval of the record on appeal filed in due time.
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xxxx (f) Is the final order or judgment rendered in the case, and affects the
substantial rights of the person appealing unless it be an order granting or
Opposing the motion, petitioner countered that a record on appeal is required only in denying a motion for a new trial or for reconsideration.
proceedings where multiple appeals may arise, a situation not obtaining in the present
case.17 The above-quoted rule contemplates multiple appeals during the pendency of special
proceedings. A record on appeal – in addition to the notice of appeal – is thus required
By Resolution18 of September 2, 2008, the appellate court dismissed petitioner’s appeal, to be filed as the original records of the case should remain with the trial court 21 to
holding that since respondent’s petition before the RTC "is classified as a special enable the rest of the case to proceed in the event that a separate and distinct issue is
proceeding," petitioner should have filed both notice of appeal and a record on appeal resolved by said court and held to be final.22
within 30 days from receipt of the October 8, 2007 Order granting respondent’s petition,
and by not filing a record on appeal, petitioner "never perfected" its appeal.19 In the present case, the filing of a record on appeal was not necessary since no other
matter remained to be heard and determined by the trial court after it issued the
Its motion for reconsideration having been denied by Resolution 20 of December 22, appealed order granting respondent’s petition for cancellation of birth record and
2008, petitioner filed the present petition for review on certiorari. change of surname in the civil registry.1avvphil

The petition is meritorious. The appellate court’s reliance on Zayco v. Hinlo, Jr. 23 in denying petitioner’s motion for
reconsideration is misplaced. In Zayco which was a petition for letters of administration
of a deceased person’s estate, the decedent’s children appealed the trial court’s order
Section 1, Rule 109 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure specifies the orders or judgments
appointing the grandson of the decedent as administrator of the estate. Their notice of
in special proceedings which may be the subject of an appeal, viz:
appeal and record on appeal were denied due course by the trial court on the ground
that the appealed order is interlocutory and not subject to appeal. But even if the appeal
SECTION 1. Orders or judgments from which appeals may be taken. – An interested were proper, it was belatedly filed. On certiorari by the decedent’s children, the appellate
person may appeal in special proceedings from an order or judgment rendered by a court sustained the trial court. On petition for review, this Court reversed the appellate
Court of First Instance or a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, where such order or court, holding that "[a]n order appointing an administrator of a deceased person’s estate
judgment: is a finaldetermination of the rights of the parties in connection with the administration,
management and settlement of the decedent’s estate," hence, the order is "final" and
(a) Allows or disallows a will; "appealable."24 The Court also held that the appeal was filed on time.

(b) Determines who are the lawful heirs of a deceased person, or the In Zayco, unlike in the present case, a record on appeal was obviously necessary as the
distributive share of the estate to which such person is entitled; proceedings before the trial court involved the administration, management and
settlement of the decedent’s estate– matters covered by Section 1 of Rule 109 wherein
(c) Allows or disallows, in whole or in part, any claim against the estate of a multiple appeals could, and did in that case, call for them.
deceased person, or any claim presented on behalf of the estate in offset to a
claim against it; WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Court of Appeals Resolutions of
September 2, 2008 and December 22, 2008 in CA G.R. CV No. 90346 are REVERSED and
(d) Settles the account of an executor, administrator, trustee or guardian; SET ASIDE. The appeal of petitioners before the appellate court is REINSTATED.

(e) Constitutes, in proceedings relating to the settlement of the estate of a SO ORDERED.