Chua vs.

Republic
845 SCRA 407 (2017)

Facts: Eric Sibayan Chua filed a petition for a change of name from “Kiat” to “Chua”
because his uncle erroneously caused the registration of his name as “Eric Kiat”.
After his birth, his father Cheong Kiat secured a favorable judgment allowing to
change his surname from “Kiat” to “Chua”. Thus, he adopted the new surname of
his father “Chua”and had been using to all of his credentials.

Issue: whether the appellate court erred in disallowing petitioner from officially
changing his name

Held:
Yes, the court enumerated several grounds that can be invoked by a person
desirous of changing his name , viz: c) when the change will avoid confusion. In
the case at bar, Eric has established that he is known as “Eric Chua” in his
community rather than “Eric Kiat” and all of his credentials bear the name “Eric
Chua”. Thus, to compel him to use the name “Eric Kiat” at this point would
inevitably lead to confusion.