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Luna Vs IAC PDF
Luna Vs IAC PDF
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* SECOND DIVISION.
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of would
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to two contrasting conditions, the first for more than eight years
and the second, for barely four months. The child grew up amidst
affluent surroundings·the grandparents being well-off. The lolo
and lola, as most lolos and lolas are, doted over Shirley. In fact, she
attended Maryknoll College, a school for the elite, and rode in a
chauffeur-driven car. She grew up amidst a luxurious atmosphere.
Perhaps, in their own way of loving their granddaughter, they
showered her with all material needs and pampered her. Thus, the
child had not been made to experience disappointments, much less
hardships. Life with her lolo and lola meant having what she
wanted. In the process, Shirley moved about in a limited world,
created by her Mama (Lola) and Papa (Lolo)·a world felt and seen
through rose-colored lenses. The child addresses her natural
parents as „Daddy‰ and „Mommy‰.
Same; Same; Same; Four months is too short for a little girl to
accept a home strikingly different from what she has known for eight
years.·Four months is too insufficient a time for a nine-year old
girl to comprehend and accept a home atmosphere strikingly
distinct from one where she had lived for more than eight years.
Four months is a very short time for the child to be able to
understand, to absorb and to appreciate two vastly different home
conditions. Whatever set of values the second home has to offer, the
same cannot settle in a child for only four monthsÊ exposure. To
Shirley, therefore, any attempted discipline imposed by her natural
parents means cruelty and lack of affection for her. Where before
she could choose the food she wanted, now she has to take whatever
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was docketed in court as Spec. Proc. No. 9417, and after the
filing of an answer and due hearing, a decision was
rendered on March 9, 1981, declaring the petitioners
entitled to the childÊs custody and forthwith granted the
writ prayed for.
The private respondents appealed to the then Court of
Appeals where the case was docketed as CA-G.R. No. SP-
12212, and in a decision dated April 7, 1982, the appealed
decision was reversed and set aside and another entered,
ordering the petitioners, among other things, to turn over
Shirley to the private respondents. The herein petitioners
filed a motion for the reconsideration of the decision but
their motion was denied.
Consequently, the petitioners filed a petition for review
of the decision of the appellate court. The case was
docketed herein as G.R. No. 60860 and on November 10,
1982, this Court, in a minute resolution, denied the petition
for lack of merit.
Upon finality of the judgment, the case was remanded to
the court of origin and assigned to Regional Trial Court,
NCJR, Branch CXXXII, Makati, Metro Manila, presided
over by respondent Judge Roque A. Tamayo who,
thereafter, issued an order directing the issuance of a writ
of execution to satisfy and enforce the resolution of the
Supreme Court which affirmed the decision of the Court of
Appeals.
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hearing that she would kill herself or run away from home
if she should ever be separated from her Mama and Papa,
the petitioners herein, and forced to stay with the
respondents. A portion of her testimony is quoted
hereunder:
„ATTY. CASTRO:
xxx xxx xxx
Q Would you want to live with your daddy and mommy,
referring to Sixto Salumbides and Maria Lourdes
Salumbides?
A No, sir.
Q Why not?
A Because they are cruel to me. They always spank me
and they do not love me. Whenever I am eating, they
are not attending to me. It is up to me whether I like
the food or not.
xxx xxx xxx
Q Now, if you will be taken from your papa and mama
(Luna spouses) and given to your daddy and mommy
(Salumbides spouses), what would you do if you will do
anything?
A I will either kill myself or I will escape. Even now they
said they love me. I donÊt believe them. I know they are
not sincere. They are only saying that to me. And I
know those words were not coming from their hearts. If
they will get me from my papa and mama, they will be
hurt
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1
because they know that my papa and mama love me very much.‰
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understand her needs, are selfish to her, and donÊt know how to
care for her. Presently, she is very difficult to encourage in seeing
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her biological parents in a different light.‰
and that·
________________
1 Rollo, p. 20.
2 Id., p. 19.
3 Id., p. 20.
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________________
4 Id., p. 54.
5 Id., p. 75.
6 Art. 356(4), Civil Code.
7 Art. 3(2), Child and Youth Welfare Code (PD 603).
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„Art. 311. The father and mother jointly exercise parental authority
over their legitimate children who are not emancipated. In case of
disagreement, the fatherÊs decision shall prevail, unless there is a
judicial order to the contrary.
xxx xxx xxx
„Art. 313. Parental authority cannot be renounced or transferred,
except in cases of guardianship or adoption approved by the courts,
or emancipation by concession‰ (par. 1).
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„Article 363 orders that ÂNo mother shall be separated from her
child under seven years of age, unless the court finds compelling
reasons for such measure.Ê One of the cruelest acts in the world is to
separate a mother from her baby. This was often done in case of
adultery by the mother, and the court ordered that the custody of
the child should be given to the father, but the new article provides
otherwise because the motherÊs maternal love·than which there is
nothing greater in this life·should be respected. Besides, she could
not exert a bad influence on a baby. And lastly, perhaps the
presence of her child will often redeem her‰ (p. 199, The Father of
the First Brown Race Civil Code, Rivera, 1978 Ed.).
As long as the parents are living and they have not lost
their parental authority, patria potestas is limited to them.
Other ascendants have no authority over the children, even
if the parents of the latter are minors (2 Manresa 13, cited
in p. 661, Comments and Jurisprudence on the Civil Code,
Tolentino, Vol. I, 1983 Ed.).
Parental authority is inalienable and every abdication of
this authority by the parents is void (Planiol and Ripert
324, p. 664, Ibid.).
Whatever agreement or arrangement there was between
petitioners and respondents when the child Shirley was
given to the former, the same has not been validated nor
legalized by the mere fact that the said girl had stayed with
the petitioners for a number of years, in view of the explicit
provision of Article 313 mandating that parental authority
cannot be renounced or transferred, except in cases of
guardianship or adoption approved by the courts, or
emancipation by concession.
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dinary, she now finds life with her natural parents harsh
and unbearable. With the luxurious life she had with
petitioners at the back of her mind, she would naturally
look at things in the respondentsÊ home differently and
partially.
Four months is too insufficient a time for a nine-year old
girl to comprehend and accept a home atmosphere
strikingly distinct from one where she had lived for more
than eight years. Four months is a very short time for the
child to be able to understand, to absorb and to appreciate
two vastly different home conditions. Whatever set of
values the second home has to offer, the same cannot settle
in a child for only four monthsÊ exposure. To Shirley,
therefore, any attempted discipline imposed by her natural
parents means cruelty and lack of affection for her. Where
before she could choose the food she wanted, now she has to
take whatever food is available within the limited means of
her parents. She cannot realize that in a middle-class
family, the choice of food is restricted by the amount
appropriated therefore. The gauge is what and how much
food could benefit all the members of the household and not
just one member. Choice for particular needs becomes
secondary to what the family budget can afford for the
entire family. This explains why Shirley had a dislike for
the conditions existing in respondentsÊ house which did not
cater to her tastes.
In her answers to the questions which are quite leading,
one can clearly sense that Shirley, who was used to having
all the lavish care and attention from petitioners, reacted
negatively to her natural parents whose ways are so
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