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Child Support
Q. - Can I get support for
my child even though I am not married to the father?
Nullity of Marriage
Q. - Do I need a judicial
declaration of nullity of a previous marriage before
contracting a subsequent marriage?
Q. - May the heirs of a deceased
person file a petition for the declaration of
nullity
of his marriage after his
death?
Bigamy & Nullity of Marriage
Q. - Is the pendency of
a civil case for declaration of nullity of marriage a
prejudicial question to suspend the criminal case for bigamy?
Psychological Incapacity
Q. - What do you mean by psychological
incapacity as a ground for
declaration of nullity of marriage?
Inheritance of Adopted Children
Q. - What is the share of
the legitimate parents or ascendants if they concur
with an adopted child as regards the estate of the adopter?
Surnames
Q. - Can an illegitimate
child use the surname of his father?
Change of First Name
Q. - What are the grounds
for change of first name or nickname without
a judicial order?
Implementing Rules and Regulations
of Republic Act No. 9048
Q - What is the National Statistics
Office Administrative Order No. 1,
Series of 2001 (July
24, 2001)?
Q - Who are authorized to
correct clerical or typographical error and to change
first name or nickname?
Q - What is a clerical or
typographical error under the IRR?
Q - Who may file the petition?
Q - What is the form and
content of the petition?
Q - Where can you file the
petition?
Law on Early Childhood Care and
Development (ECCD)
Q - What is the ECCD Act?
Q - What is the declared
policy of the State in the enactment of the ECCD Act?
Q - What are the objectives
of the National ECCD System?
Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000
Q - What is Republic Act
No. 8972?
Q - Who is considered a Solo
Parent under the Act?
Q - What is the declared
policy of the State as to Solo Parents and their children?
Inheritance Law
Q - What are the kinds of
inheritance under the Philippine Law?
Q - What is the legitime of
an illegitimate child?
Q - Who is considered the intestate
or legal heir?
Q - Who are considered compulsory
heirs?
Partition
Q - What is partition of property?
Q - What are the kinds of partition?
Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995
Q - What is work related,
education or training related sexual harassment?
Q - When is sexual harassment
committed in work-related or in an
employment environment?
Q - When is sexual harassment
committed in an education or training
environment?
Administrative Disciplinary Rules
on Sexual Harassment Cases
Q - What is the Civil Service
Commission Resolution No. 01-0940?
Q - What is the scope
and coverage of the Rules?
Q - Under the Rules, what
is the definition of the administrative offense of
sexual harassment?
Q - What is work-related
sexual harassment?
Q - What is education
or training-related sexual harassment?
Q - What are the forms
of sexual harassment?
Q - Who are the persons
liable for sexual harassment?
Q - In what places may
sexual harassment happen?
Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination
Act of 1992
Q - What constitutes child
abuse?
International Child Abduction
Q - What is the Hague Convention
on International Child Abduction?
Q - When shall the removal
or the retention of a child be considered wrongful?
United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child
Q - What is the guiding
principle of the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
Q - What is the definition
of a child under the Convention?
Q - Can a child under
seven (7) years of age be separated from the mother?
Illegitimate Children
Q - Who are considered illegitimate
children under the Family Code?
Artificial Insemination
Q - What does the Family Code
provide on artificial insemination?
Foreign Marriages of Philippine
Citizens
Q - What is the status of
a Filipino citizen who is married to a foreigner and
subsequently, divorce
is obtained abroad by the alien spouse?
Q - What are the exceptions
to Executive Order No.227 dated July 17, 1987?
Divorce
Q. - Is foreign divorce between
Filipinos recognized in the Philippines?
A. - No, a foreign divorce between Filipino citizens is not
recognized as valid in the Philippines and neither is the
marriage contracted with another party subsequent to the foreign
decree of divorce entitled to validity (Art. 26, Family Code).
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Foreign Adoption
Q. - Can a foreigner adopt a child
in the Philippines?
A - Yes, under Republic Act No. 8043 otherwise known as Inter-Country
Adoption law, it allows a foreigner to adopt a child in the
Philippines.
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Child Custody
Q. - In case of separation-in-fact
of parents, who has the right of custody over the child?
A. - No child under seven years of age shall be separated
from the mother, unless the court finds compelling reasons
to order otherwise (Second paragraph, Art. 213, Family Code).
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Child Support
Q. - Can I get support for my child
even though I am not married to the father?
A. - Yes, parents are obliged to support their illegitimate
children (Art. 195, Family Code).
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Nullity of Marriage
Q. - Do I need a judicial declaration
of nullity of a previous marriage before contracting a subsequent
marriage?
A. - Yes, a judicial declaration is needed to determine whether
a person is legally free to contract a second marriage to
avoid liability for bigamy (Art. 40, Family Code; Mercado
v. Tan, G.R. No. 137110, August 1, 2000).
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Q. - May the
heirs of a deceased person file a petition for the declaration
of nullity of his marriage after his death?
A. - Yes, the Court may pass upon the validity of marriage
even in a suit not directly instituted to question the same
so long as it is essential to the determination of the case.
(Niñal v. Bayadog, G.R. No. 133778, March 14, 2000,
328 SCRA 122).
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Bigamy &
Nullity of Marriage
Q. - Is the pendency of a civil
case for declaration of nullity of marriage a prejudicial
question to suspend the criminal case for bigamy?
A. - No, the prosecution of the criminal case cannot be delayed
or frustrated by filing belatedly a judicial declaration of
nullity of first marriage. (Bobis v. Bobis, G.R. 138509, July
31, 2000).
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Psychological
Incapacity
Q. - What do you mean by psychological
incapacity as a ground for declaration of nullity of marriage?
A. - In the Supreme Court Decision entitled, "Hernandez
v. Court of Appeals and Hernandez," G.R. No. 126010,
December 8, 1999, 320 SCRA 76, citing "Santos v. Court
of Appeals," psychological incapacity was defined as
follows:
"Psychological incapacity" should refer to no
less than a mental (not physical) incapacity that causes
a party to be truly incognitive of the basic marital covenants
that concomitantly must be assumed and discharged by the
parties to the marriage which, as so expressed by Article
68 of the Family Code, include their mutual obligations
to live together, observe love, respect and fidelity and
render help and support. There is hardly any doubt that
the intendment of the law has been to confine the meaning
of "psychological incapacity" to the most serious
cases of personality disorders clearly demonstrative of
an utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and
significance to the marriage. This psychological condition
must exist at the time the marriage is celebrated. The law
does not evidently envision, upon the other hand, an inability
of the spouse to have sexual relations with the other. This
conclusion is implicit under Article 54 of the Family Code
which considers children conceived prior to the judicial
declaration of nullity of the void marriage to be "legitimate."
The other forms of psychoses, if existing at the inception
of marriage, like the state of a party being of unsound
mind or concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism,
homosexuality or lesbianism, merely renders the marriage
contract voidable pursuant to Article 46, Family Code. If
drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, lesbianism or homosexuality
should occur only during the marriage, they become mere
grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family
Code. These provisions of the Code, however, do not necessarily
preclude the possibility of these various circumstances
being themselves, depending on the degree and severity of
the disorder, indicia of psychological incapacity.
Until further statutory and jurisprudential parameters
are established, every circumstance that may have some bearing
on the degree, extent, and other conditions of that incapacity
must, in every case, be carefully examined and evaluated
so that no precipitate and indiscriminate nullity is peremptorily
decreed. The well-considered opinions of psychiatrists,
psychologists, and persons with expertise in psychological
disciplines might be helpful or even desirable."
Further, the Supreme Court cited "Republic of the Philippines
v. Court of Appeals," to wit:
"The root cause of the psychological incapacity must
be: (a) medically or clinically identified, (b) alleged
in the complaint, (c) sufficiently proven by the experts
and (d) clearly explained in the decision. Article 36 of
the Family Code requires that the incapacity must be psychological
-- not physical, although its manifestations and/or symptoms
may be physical. The evidence must convince the court that
the parties, or one of them, was mentally or physically
ill to such an extent that the person could not have known
the obligations he was assuming or knowing them, could not
have given valid assumption thereof. Although no example
of such incapacity need be given here so as not to limit
the application of the provision under principle of ejusdem
generis (citing Salita v. Magtolis, supra) nevertheless
such root cause must be identified as a psychological illness
and its incapacitating nature fully explained. Expert evidence
may be given by qualified psychiatrists and clinical psychologists."
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Inheritance
of Adopted Children
Q. - What is the share of the legitimate
parents or ascendants if they concur with an adopted child
as regards the estate of the adopter?
A. - The adopted shall exclude the legitimate parents or
ascendants as they are declared to be legitimate children
of the adopter according to Art. 189, Family Code.
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Surnames
Q. - Can an illegitimate child use
the surname of his father?
A. - As a rule, illegitimate children shall use the surname
and shall be under the parental authority of their mother
(Article 176, Family Code). However, as an exception, illegitimate
children may use the father's surname if there has been an
acknowledgement/recognition by the father (Art. 172, Family
Code; DOJ Opinion No. 4, S. 1998).
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Change of First
Name
Q. - What are the grounds for change of first name or nickname
without a judicial order?
A. - Republic Act No. 9048 dated March 22, 2001 provides
the grounds for change of first name or nickname, to wit:
-
The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be
ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or merely difficult
to write or pronounce;
-
The new first name or nickname has been habitually and
continuously used by the petitioner and he has been publicly
known by that first name or nickname in the community
or;
-
The change will avoid confusion.
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Implementing
Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9048
Q - What is the National Statistics
Office Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2001 (July 24,
2001)?
A - It is the implementing rules and regulations of RA 9048
which provides for the correction of clerical or typographical
errors and change of first name or nickname.
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Q - Who are
authorized to correct clerical or typographical error and
to change first name or nickname?
A - The city/municipal civil registrar, Consul General, including
the Clerk of the Shari'a Court in his capacity as District
or Circuit Registrar of Muslim Marriages, Divorces, Revocations
of Divorces and Conversions, are hereby authorized to correct
clerical or typographical error and to change name or nickname
in the civil registrar.
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Q - What is
a clerical or typographical error under the IRR?
A - It refers to a mistake committed in the performance of
clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing
an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous,
such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth or the
like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding,
and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other
existing record or records: Provided, however, That no correction
must involve the change of nationality, age, status or sex
of the petitioner.
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Q - Who may
file the petition?
A - Any person of legal age, having direct and personal interest
in the correction of a clerical or typographical error in
an entry and/or change of first name or nickname in the civil
register, may file the petition.
A person is considered to have direct and personal interest
when he is the owner of the record, or the owner's spouse,
children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, guardian,
or any other person duly authorized by law or by the owner
of the document sought to be corrected: Provided, however,
That when a person is a minor or physically or mentally incapacitated,
the petition may be filed on his behalf by his spouse, or
any of his children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents,
guardians, or persons duly authorized by law.
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Q - What is
the form and content of the petition?
A - The petition shall be in the prescribed form of an affidavit,
subscribed and sworn to before any person authorized by law
to administer oath. The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary
to establish the merits of the petition and shall show affirmatively
that the petitioner is competent to testify to the matters
stated. The petitioner shall state the particular erroneous
entry or entries sought to be corrected or the first name
sought to be changed, and the correction or change to be made.
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Q - Where can
you file the petition?
A - The verified petition may be filed, in person, with
the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) of the city or municipality
or with the Office of the Clerk of the Shari'a Court as the
case may be, where the record containing the clerical or typographical
error to be corrected, or first name to be changed, is registered.
When the petitioner had already migrated to another place
within the Philippines and it would not be practical for such
party, in terms of transportation expenses, time and effort
to appear in person before the Record-Keeping Civil Registrar
(RKCR), the petition may be filed, in person, with the Petition-Receiving
Civil Registrar (PRCR) of the place where the migrant petitioner
is residing or domiciled.
Any person whose civil registry record was registered in
the Philippines, or in any Philippine Consulate, but who is
presently residing or domiciled in a foreign country, may
file the petition, in person, with the nearest Philippine
Consulate, or in accordance with Rule 3 thereof.
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Law on Early
Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)
Q - What is the ECCD Act?
A - The ECCD Act is the institutionalization of a National
System for Early Childhood Care and Development that is comprehensive,
integrative and sustainable, that involves multisectoral and
inter-agency collaboration at the national and local levels
among government; among services providers, families and communities;
and among the public and private sectors, non-government organizations,
professional associations, and academic institutions. This
system shall promote the inclusion of children with special
needs and advocate respect for cultural diversity.
It shall be anchored on complementary strategies for ECCD
that include service delivery for children from conception
to age six (6), educating parents and caregivers, encouraging
the active involvement of parents and communities in ECCD
programs, raising awareness about the importance of ECCD,
and promoting community development efforts that improve the
quality of life for young children and families.
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Q - What
is the declared policy of the State in the enactment of the
ECCD Act?
A - It is the declared policy of the State to promote the
rights of children to survival, development and special protection
with full recognition of the nature of childhood and its special
needs; and to support parents in their roles as primary caregivers
and as their children's first teachers.
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Q - What
are the objectives of the National ECCD System?
A - The objectives of the National ECCD System are the following:
a.) To achieve improved infant and child survival rates
by ensuring that adequate health and nutrition programs
are accessible to young children and their mothers from
the pre-natal period throughout the early childhood years;
b.) To enhance the physical, social, emotional, cognitive,
psychological, spiritual and language development of young
children;
c.) To enhance the role of parents and other caregivers
as the primary caregivers and educators of their children
from birth onwards;
d.) To facilitate smooth transition from care and education
provided at home to community or school-based setting and
to primary school;
e.) To enhance the capabilities of service providers and
their supervisors to comply with quality standards for various
ECCD programs;
f.) To enhance and sustain the efforts of communities to
promote ECCD programs and ensure that special support is
provided for poor and disadvantaged
communities;
g.) To ensure that young children are adequately prepared
for the formal learning system and that both public and
private schools are responsive to the developmental needs
of these children;
h.) To establish an efficient system for early identification,
prevention, referral and disabilities in early childhood;
and
i.) To improve the quality standards of public and private
ECCD programs through, but not limited to, a registration
and credential system for ECCD service providers.
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Solo Parents
Welfare Act of 2000
Q - What is Republic Act No. 8972?
A - The Republic Act No. 8972 otherwise known as the Solo
Parents Welfare Act of 2000 is a comprehensive program of
services for solo parents and their children to be carried
out by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),
the Department of Health, (DOH), the Department of Education,
Culture and Sports (DECS), the Department of the Interior
and Local Government (DILG), the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) the National Housing Authority (NHA), the Department
of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and other related government
and non-government agencies.
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Q - Who is considered
a Solo Parent under the Act?
A - A Solo Parent is any individual who falls under any of
the following categories:
a.) A woman who gives birth as a result of rape and other
crimes against chastity even without a final conviction
of the offender: Provided, That the mother keeps and raises
the child;
b.) Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of
parenthood due to death of spouse;
c.) Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of
parenthood while the spouse is detained or is serving sentence
for a criminal conviction for at least one (1) year;
d.) Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of
parenthood due to physical and/or mental incapacity of spouse
as certified by a public medical practitioner;
e.) Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of
parenthood due to legal separation or de facto separation
from spouse for at least one (1) year, as long as he/she
is entrusted with the custody of the children;
f.) Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of
parenthood due to declaration of nullity or annulment of
marriage as decreed by a court or by a church as long as
he/she is entrusted with the custody of the children;
g.) Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of
parenthood due to abandonment of spouse for at least one
(1) year;
h.) Unmarried mother/father who has preferred to keep and
rear her/his child/children instead of having others care
for them or give them up to a welfare institution;
i.) Any other person who solely provides parental care
and support to a child or children; and
j.) Any family member who assumes the responsibility of
head of family as a result of the death, abandonment, disappearance
or prolonged absence of the parents or solo parent.
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Q - What is
the declared policy of the State as to Solo Parents and their
children?
A - It is the declared of policy of the State to promote
the family as the foundation of the nation, strengthen its
solidarity and ensure its total development.
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Inheritance Law
Q - What are the kinds of Inheritance
under the Philippine Law?
A - The kinds of inheritance under the Philippine Law are
the following:
a.) Testamentary Succession - when the decedent died with
a valid will which must be duly probated because a will
cannot transfer ownership or pass property unless it has
been duly probated or allowed by the court (Art. 838, Civil
Code). Aside from the presence of a valid will, it is essential
that there are qualified heirs who will inherit. Otherwise,
even if there is a will if the designated heirs are not
qualified, intestacy will govern. In testamentary succession,
we respect the wishes of the decedent insofar as the free
portion of the estate is concerned. As regards the legitime,
it is the law and not the will of the decedent that governs.
b.) Intestate Succession - the estate of the decedent is
divided in accordance with the provisions of the law. That
is why we call it legal succession. The law operates by
presuming the will of the decedent. The decedent's will
is just presumed because in intestate succession, either
the decedent died without a will or he died with a void
or ineffective will. It is not correct to say that there
is intestacy just because there is no will. In intestacy,
a valid will could be in existence although, it might have
simply lost its validity or there are no qualified heirs
or all the designated heirs have repudiated the inheritance
(Art. 960, Civil Code).
c.) Mixed Succession - when the estate of the deceased
is distributed partly in accordance with the will of the
testator and partly in accordance with the rules on intestacy.
This can happen for instance, when the testator made a will
but failed to cover and dispose of all his properties in
the will. Those covered by the will shall be distributed
in accordance with the will and those not covered by the
rules on intestacy.
d.) Partition inter vivos - is the partition of the estate
of a person made by him during his lifetime. It is allowed
but effective only after his death. It can be made in a
will. Such partition is valid so long as no legitimes of
compulsory heirs are impaired (Art. 1080, Civil Code).
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Q - What is the
legitime of an illegitimate child?
A - The legitime or share of illegitimate children is fixed
at one half (1/2) of the legitime or share of one legitimate
child (Art. 176, Family Code).
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Q - Who is considered
the intestate or legal heir?
A - The intestate or legal heirs are those called to succeed
by operation of law. They inherit when the decedent died without
a valid will or with a void will or with a will which was
rendered inoperative or ineffective (Art. 960, Civil Code).
The following are considered as the intestate or legal heirs:
a.) Legitimate children and their descendants (Art. 985);
b.) Legitimate parents and ascendants (Art. 985);
c.) Illegitimate children (Art. 988);
d.) Surviving spouse (Art. 995) without prejudice to rights
of brothers and sisters
when they concur (Art. 1001);
e.) Collateral relatives within the fifth degree (Art.
1010); and
f.) The State (Art. 1011).
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Q - Who are considered
compulsory heirs?
A - The following persons are compulsory heirs entitled to
a legitime:
a.) Legitimate children (including legitimated and adopted
children) and descendants, with respect to their legitimate
parents and ascendants;
b.) In default of the foregoing, legitimate parents and
ascendants, with respect to their legitimate children and
descendants;
c.) The widow or widower; and
d.) The Illegitimate children.
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Partition
Q - What is partition of property?
A - Partition is the separation, division and assignment
of a thing held in common or in co-ownership (Art. 1079, Civil
Code).
Q - What are the
kinds of partition?
A - The kinds of partition are as follows:
a.) Judicial - when the partition is coursed through the
court:
a.1.) Administration proceedings (Rule 84, Section 90);
a.2.) Judicial summary settlement (Rule74, Section 2);
a.3.) Ordinary action for partition (Rule 74, Section
1; Rule 69, RRC).
b.) Extra-judicial - when the partition is done without
judicial intervention:
b.1.) When the co-heirs voluntarily agree among themselves
to partition the estate of the decedent (Rule 74, Section
1; Art. 1083 and Art. 1085, NCC);
b.2.) When the sole heir adjudicates to himself the entire
estate of the decedent by executing an affidavit of adjudication
(Rule 74, Section 1);
b.3.) By the decedent through an act inter vivos (Art.
1080);
b.4.) By the decedent through his will (Art. 1080);
b.5.) By a person entrusted by the testator or decedent
to make physical division of the estate for the benefit
of the heirs entitled thereto (Art. 1081, paragraph 1).
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Anti-Sexual
Harassment Act of 1995
Q - What is work related, education
or training related sexual harassment?
A - Under Republic Act No. 7877 dated February 14, 1995,
sexual harassment is defined as:
"Work, education or training-related sexual harassment
is committed by an employer, employee, manager, supervisor,
agent of the employer, teacher, instructor, professor, coach,
trainor, or any other person who, having authority, influence
or moral ascendancy over another in a work or training or
education environment, demands, requests or otherwise requires
any sexual favor from the other, regardless of whether the
demand, request or requirement for submission is accepted
by the object of said act."
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Q - When
is sexual harassment committed in work-related or in an employment
environment?
A - Sexual harassment is committed when:
1. The sexual favor is made as a condition in the hiring
or in the employment, re-employment or continued employment
of said individual, or in granting said individual favorable
compensation, terms, conditions, promotions or privileges;
or the refusal to grant the sexual favor results in limiting,
segregating or classifying the employee which in any way
would discriminate, deprive or diminish employment opportunities
or otherwise adversely affect said employee;
2. The above acts would impair the employee's rights or
privileges under existing labor laws; or,
3. The above acts would result in an intimidating, hostile,
or offensive environment for the employee.
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Q - When
is sexual harassment committed in an education or training
environment?
A - Sexual harassment is committed when:
1. Against one who is under the care, custody or supervision
of the offender;
2. Against one whose education, training apprenticeship
or tutorship is entrusted to the offender;
3. When the sexual favor is made a condition to the giving
of a passing grade, or the granting of honors and scholarships,
or the payment of a stipend, allowance or other benefits,
privileges or considerations; or
4. When the sexual advances result in an intimidating,
hostile or offensive environment for the student, training
or apprentice.
Any person who directs or induces another to commit any
act of sexual harassment herein defined, or who cooperates
in the commission thereof by another without which it would
not have been committed, shall also be held liable under
this Act.
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Administrative
Disciplinary Rules on Sexual Harassment Cases
Q - What is the Civil Service Commission
Resolution No. 01-0940?
A - These are the rules and regulations defining the administrative
offense of sexual harassment and prescribing the standard
procedure for the administrative investigation, prosecution
and resolution of sexual harassment cases in the public sector
(dated May 21, 2001).
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Q - What
is the scope and coverage of the Rules?
A - The rules shall apply to all officials and employees
in government, whether in the Career or Non-Career service
and holding any level of position, including Presidential
appointees and elective officials regardless of status, in
the national or local government, state colleges and universities,
including government-owned or controlled corporations, with
original charters.
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Q - Under
the Rules, what is the definition of the administrative offense
of sexual harassment?
A - The administrative offense of sexual harassment is an
act, or a series of acts, involving any unwelcome sexual advance,
request or demand for a sexual favor, or other verbal or physical
behavior of a sexual nature, committed by a government employee
or official in a work-related, training or education related
environment of the person complained of.
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Q - What
is work-related sexual harassment?
A - Work-related sexual harassment is committed under the
following circumstances:
1. Submission to or rejection of the act or series of acts
is used as a basis for any employment decision (including,
but not limited to, matters related to hiring, promotion,
raise in salary, job security, benefits and any other personnel
action) affecting the applicant/employee; or
2. The act or series of acts have the purpose or effect
of interfering with the complainants' work performance,
or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment;
or
3. The act or series of acts might reasonably be expected
to cause discrimination, insecurity, discomfort, offense
or humiliation to a complainant who may be a co-employee,
applicant, customer, or ward of the person complained of.
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Q - What
is education or training-related sexual harassment?
A - Education or training-related sexual harassment is committed
against one who is under the actual or constructive care,
custody or supervision of the offender, or against one whose
education, training, apprenticeship, internship or tutorship
is directly or constructively entrusted to, or is provided
by, the offender, when:
1. Submission to or rejection of the act or series of acts
is used as a basis for any decision affecting the complainant,
including, but not limited to, the giving of a grade, the
granting of honors or a scholarship, the payment of a stipend
or allowance, or the giving of any benefit, privilege or
consideration.
2. The act or series of acts have the purpose or effect
of interfering with the performance, or creating an intimidating,
hostile or offensive academic environment of the complainant;
or
3. The act or series of acts might reasonably be expected
to cause discrimination, insecurity, discomfort, offense
or humiliation to a complainant who may be a trainee, apprentice,
intern, tutee or ward of the person complained of.
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Q - What
are the forms of sexual harassment?
A - The following are illustrative forms of sexual harassment:
a.) Physical
a.1) Malicious touching
a.2) Overt sexual advances
a.3) Gestures with lewd insinuation
b.) Verbal, such as but not limited to, requests or demands
for sexual favors, and lurid remarks
c.) Use of objects, pictures or graphics, letters or written
notes with sexual underpinnings
d.) Other forms analogous to the foregoing.
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Q - Who are
the persons liable for sexual harassment?
A - Any government official or employee, regardless of sex,
is liable for sexual harassment when he/she:
a.) directly participates in the execution of any act of
sexual harassment as defined by the Rules;
b.) induces or directs another or others to commit sexual
harassment as defined by the Rules;
c.) cooperates in the commission of sexual harassment by
another through an act without which the sexual harassment
would not have been accomplished;
d.) cooperates in the commission of sexual harassment by
another through previous or simultaneous acts.
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Q - In what
places may sexual harassment happen?
A - Sexual harassment may take place
1. In the premises of the workplace or office or of the
school or training institution;
2. In any place where the parties were found as a result
of work or education or training responsibilities or relations;
3. At work or education or training related social functions;
4. While on official business outside the office or school
or training institution or during work or school or training-related
travel;
5. At official conferences, fora, symposia or training
sessions;
6. Or by telephone, cellular phone, fax machine or electronic
mail.
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Child Abuse,
Exploitation and Discrimination Act of 1992
Q - What constitutes child abuse?
A - Under Republic Act 7610 dated August 1992, child abuse
is defined as the maltreatment of the child whether habitual
or not, and which may be committed in various forms. Article
1, Section 3 (b) of R.A. 7610 provides for the following instances:
1. Psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty,
sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment;
2. Any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or
demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a
human being;
3. Unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival,
such as food and shelter; or,
4. Failure to immediately give medical treatment to an
injured child resulting in serious impairment of his growth
and development and in his permanent incapacity or death.
5. Further, under .R.A 7610, child abuse per se, is not
punished as a distinct and separate crime but is subsumed
by ordinary crimes.
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International
Child Abduction
Q - What is the Hague Convention
on International Child Abduction?
A - The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction
is concerned with international situations the objective of
which is to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully
removed to, or retained in any Contracting State; and that
respect will be ensured for rights of custody and access existing
under the law of one Contracting State in other Contracting
States.
The first paragraph of the Preamble of the Convention also
announces how the States parties are concerned that the interests
of children are of paramount importance in matters relating
in the custody.
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Q
- When shall the removal or the retention of a child be considered
wrongful?
A - The removal or the retention of a child is to be considered
wrongful where:
1. It is in breach of rights of custody attributed to a
person, an institution or any other body, either jointly
or alone, under the law of the State in which the child
was habitually resident immediately before the removal or
retention; and
2. At the time of removal or retention those rights were
actually exercised, either jointly or alone, or would have
been so exercised but for the removal or retention.
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United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Q - What is the guiding principle
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
A - The Convention in its Preamble, affirms the fact that
children possess inherent dignity and human rights, but their
physical and mental immaturity make them vulnerable to abuse
and exploitation. It emphasizes the need to provide children
with special care and assistance including legal protection
before and after birth. This statement gives direction to
issues concerning the right to life of the unborn. It likewise
recognizes the role of community traditions and cultural values
in shaping the character of the child.
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Q - What
is the definition of a child under the Convention?
A - The Convention sets the standard definition of children
to be those persons who are below (18) years of age. However,
the Convention also recognizes the fact that in some States,
the age of majority may be attained earlier as dictated by
their cultures. In the same manner, the age of majority also
varies according to the assumption of responsibility as provided
by law.
It is also a guiding principle that:
1. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set
forth in the present Convention to each child within their
jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective
of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's
race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national, ethnic, or social origin, property, disability,
birth or other status.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to
ensure that the child is protected against all forms of
discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status,
activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's
parents, legal guardians, or family members.
3. All efforts and actions taken by the State shall consider
at all times the "best interests of the child."
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Q - Can
a child under seven (7) years of age be separated from the
mother?
A - A child under seven (7) years of age shall not be separated
from the mother, unless the court finds compelling reasons
to order otherwise. (Article 213, E.O. 209, as amended; Cervantes
v. Fajardo, 169 SCRA 575 [January 27, 1989]).
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Illegitimate
Children
Q - Who are considered illegitimate
children under the Family Code?
A - Children conceived and born outside a valid marriage
are illegitimate. An illegitimate child shall use the surname
of the mother. Section 5 of the Civil Registry law requires
that the birth certificate of the illegitimate child shall
be signed and sworn to jointly his/her parents or only by
the mother if the father refuses. It further provides that
"in the latter case, it shall not be permissible to state
or reveal in the document the name of the father who refuses
to acknowledge the child or to give therein any information
by which such father could be identified."
An illegitimate child, however, can establish the illegitimate
filiation, if impugned, under the Family Code. Under Article
176 of the Family Code the illegitimate child shall always
be under the parental authority of the mother and shall be
entitled to support in conformity with the Code. The legitime
of the illegitimate child shall consist of one-half of the
legitime of a legitimate child. The child can present a judicial
declaration or a record of birth or show the admission of
filiation in a public document or a private handwritten instrument
by the parent concerned. In the absence thereof, the open
and continuous possession of illegitimate filiation or other
means allowed by the Rules of Court may be presented.
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Artificial Insemination
Q - What does the Family Code provide
on artificial insemination?
A- The Family Code provides as follows, to wit:
"Art. 164. Children conceived or born during the
marriage of the parents are legitimate.
Children conceived as a result of artificial insemination
of the wife with sperm of the husband or that of donor or
both are likewise legitimate children of the husband and
his wife, provided, that both of them authorized or ratified
such insemination in a written instrument executed and signed
by them before the birth of the child. The instrument shall
be recorded in the civil registry together with birth certificate
of the child."
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Foreign
Marriages of Philippine Citizens
Q - What is the status of a Filipino
citizen who is married to a foreigner and subsequently, divorce
is obtained abroad by the alien spouse?
A - Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner
is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly
obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her
to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise have capacity
to remarry under Philippine law (2nd paragraph, Article 26,
Family Code as amended by Executive Order No. 227 dated July
17, 1987).
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Q - What are
the exceptions to Executive Order No. 227 dated July 17, 1987?
A - The said Executive Order does not apply to the following:
1. To a divorce obtained by a Filipino abroad from
his or her Filipino spouse, which divorce is void because
divorce is not allowed in the Philippines, and a Filipino
citizen is governed by his nationality law which follows
him wherever he goes. (Article 15, Civil Code).
2. To a divorce obtained by a former Filipino citizen
who had been naturalized in another country after his naturalization.
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