REPUBLIC V NISHINA

G.R. No.
186053 November 15, 2010
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Petitioner, vs. NISAIDA SUMERA NISHINA, represented by ZENAIDA
SUMERA WATANABE, Respondent.
FACTS CARPIO MORALES, J.:
Nisaida Sumera Nishina (respondent), represented by her mother Zenaida Sumera Watanabe
(Zenaida), filed before the RTC of Malolos, Bulacan a verified petition for cancellation of birth
record and change of surname in the civil registry of Malolos, Bulacan.
In her petition, respondent alleged the following:
She was born in Malolos, Bulacan to her Filipino mother Zenaida and Japanese father Koichi
Nishina. Her father later died. her mother married another Japanese, Kenichi Hakamada. 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 mother's second
husband, "Hakamada." Her mother and Hakamada eventually divorced.
her mother married another Japanese, Takayuki Watanabe, who later adopted her by a decree
issued by the Tokyo Family Court of Japan. The adoption decree was filed and recorded in the
civil registry of Manila in 2006.
In 2007, it surfaced that her birth was in fact originally registered at the Malolos Civil Registry
under the name "Nisaida Sumera Nishina, hence, her filing before the RTC of her petition
praying that her second birth certificate bearing the surname "Hakamada, be cancelled; and that
in light of the decree of adoption, her surname "Nishina" in the original birth certificate be
changed to "Watanabe."
RTC, 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 and to change it, particularly
the surname of respondent from NISAIDA SUMERA NISHINA to NISAIDA SUMERA
WATANABE."
A copy of the Order was received by the OSG which filed, on behalf of petitioner, a notice of
appeal. Before the CA, respondent filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, alleging 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 Civil Procedure
SEC. 2. Modes of appeal. -
(a) Ordinary appeal. - The appeal to the CA in cases decided by the RTC 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 from and serving a copy thereof upon the
adverse party. No record on appeal shall be required except in special proceedings and other cases of multiple or separate appeals
where the law or these Rules so require. In such cases, the record on appeal shall be filed and served in like manner.
xxxx
SEC. 3. Period of ordinary appeal. - The appeal shall be taken within (15) days from notice of the judgment or final order appealed
from. Where a record on appeal is required, the appellant shall file a notice of appeal and a record on appeal within (30) days from
notice of the judgment or final order. However, an appeal in habeas corpus cases shall be taken within (48) hours from notice of the
judgment or final order appealed from. (A.M. No. 01-1-03- SC, June 19, 2001)
The period of appeal shall be interrupted by a timely motion for new trial or reconsideration. No motion for extension of time to file a
motion for new trial or reconsideration shall be allowed.
xxxx
SEC. 9. Perfection of appeal; effect thereof. - x x x.
A party's appeal by record on appeal is deemed perfected as to him with respect to the subject matter thereof upon the approval of the
record on appeal filed in due time.
Opposing the motion, petitioner countered that a record on appeal is required only in
proceedings where multiple appeals may arise, a situation not obtaining in the present case.
By Resolution, the appellate court dismissed petitioner's appeal, holding that since respondent's
petition before the RTC "is classified as a special proceeding," petitioner should have filed both
notice of appeal and a record on appeal within 30 days from receipt of the Order granting
respondent's petition, and by not filing a record on appeal, petitioner "never perfected" its
appeal.
Its motion for reconsideration having been denied by Resolution, petitioner filed the present
petition for review on certiorari.
ISSUE WON filing of record of appeal is necessary.
RULIN Section 1, Rule 109 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure specifies the orders or judgments in special proceedings which may be the
subject of an appeal, viz:
G
SECTION 1. Orders or judgments from which appeals may be taken. - An interested person may appeal in special proceedings from
an order or judgment rendered by a CFI or a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, where such order or judgment:
(a) Allows or disallows a will;
(b) Determines who are the lawful heirs of a deceased person, or the distributive share of the estate to which such person is entitled;
(c) Allows or disallows, in whole or in part, any claim against the estate of a deceased person, or any claim presented on behalf of the
estate in offset to a claim against it;
(d) Settles the account of an executor, administrator, trustee or guardian;
(e) Constitutes, in proceedings relating to the settlement of the estate of a deceased person, or the administration of a trustee or
guardian, a final determination in the lower court of the rights of the party appealing, except that no appeal shall be allowed from the
appointment of a special administrator; and
(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 denying a motion for a new trial or for reconsideration.
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 to be filed
as the original records of the case should remain with the trial court to enable the rest of the case
to proceed in the event that a separate and distinct issue is resolved by said court and held to be
final.
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
appealed order granting respondent's petition for cancellation of birth record and
change of surname in the civil registry.
The appellate court's reliance on Zayco v. Hinlo, Jr. in denying petitioner's motion for
reconsideration is misplaced..In Zayco, unlike in the present case, a record on appeal was
obviously necessary as the 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 multiple appeals could, and did in that case, call for them.
the petition is GRANTED. The CA Resolutions are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The appeal of
petitioners before the appellate court is REINSTATED.
SO ORDERED.

REPUBLIC V NISHINA

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G.R. No.

186053 November 15, 2010

In her petition, respondent alleged the following:

SEC. 2. Modes of appeal. -

SEC. 9. Perfection of appeal; effect thereof. - x x x.

(a) Allows or disallows a will;

(d) Settles the account of an executor, administrator, trustee or guardian;

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