Question about Paternal rights in the Phil's

[Englishman2010]

A Pinay friend of a friend has a bit of a concern, and has asked me if I can try to give her some advice.
She has a 6 yr old child, she hasn't seen the father since before the birth and he has never made any effort to contact them until now and has never offered any child support. The father is not named on the childs birth certificate.
A few days ago, out of the blue, the father contacted the mother and demanded to see the child. The mother naturally told him t go away, but she is now worried what rights the father might have and if he could apply for custody of the child, or if he just took the child where would she stand in law?
Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated as she is naturally very worried.

[keithAngel]

As there is no evidence he would have to go to court anyone can "claim" what they like after all I do know that we have a similar situation except no contact as he is not on the birth certificate he doesnt legaly exist untill a competent authority says otherwise

Which means my missus can leave the country without any requirements vis her daughter as she has the sole respocnabilty legaly

[joebloggs]

child is under 7yrs old mother automatically gets custody
i would have thought hes got no rights at all

[Englishman2010]

As there is no evidence he would have to go to court anyone can "claim" what they like after all I do know that we have a similar situation except no contact as he is not on the birth certificate he doesnt legaly exist untill a competent authority says otherwise

Which means my missus can leave the country without any requirements vis her daughter as she has the sole respocnabilty legaly

Thanks Keith, that's what I thought too.
Her biggest concern is that the father may just decide to take the child one day and vanish. I don't imagine the Phil Police or authorities are as good or as well equipped to track down people as they are in the UK. It must be fairly easy to vanish into a backwater province?

I've told her to tell the father to go away until he has caught up with at least 6 years back child support, Birthday and Christmas presents, and then she might consider giving him supervised access for an hour to see how it goes.

The legal system in the UK does protect children and parents rights, but I imagine it's very different and not very often enforced over there?

[Englishman2010]

child is under 7yrs old mother automatically gets custody
i would have thought hes got no rights at all

The child will be 7 soon, and that is a worry to her, as she thinks she could lose custody when the child is 7 if the father can prove he is financial able to support the child. He should have thought about that before and paid for his child for the last 6/7 years

[joebloggs]

The child will be 7 soon, and that is a worry to her, as she thinks she could lose custody when the child is 7 if the father can prove he is financial able to support the child. He should have thought about that before and paid for his child for the last 6/7 years

i doubt it, shes managed to look after the child for nearly 7yrs without him or his non existent help

[Englishman2010]

i doubt it, shes managed to look after the child for nearly 7yrs without him or his non existent help

That's what I've told her, with her family's support she has looked after the child well from birth, it's unlikely a Judge would grant the father custody now. She doesn't want the father to have any access to the child as he abandoned them prior to its birth and hasnt contributed a peso for nearly 7 years, changed any of it's nappies, comforted the child when it had a fever and done any of the other things that a parent would do for their child.

[keithAngel]

you dont say "why" the sudden interest nor what the fathers situation is well off lives same place etc a member here posted the other day about her ex back paying 6-7 years child support i think from a court order even at a 1000 a month thats 84000 a large sum for most here

enforcement here is all about "influence" who you know or how much you can pay

[fred]

Tell your friend and her immediate family to speak with the Barangay captain and explain their fears about an imminent abduction..Let us know what he has to say and what solution he proposes..
Thanks..

[Englishman2010]

you dont say "why" the sudden interest nor what the fathers situation is well off lives same place etc a member here posted the other day about her ex back paying 6-7 years child support i think from a court order even at a 1000 a month thats 84000 a large sum for most here

enforcement here is all about "influence" who you know or how much you can pay

I don't know any of that info Keith.

I was chuckling to myself at the levels of child support you've posted, and some of the rediculous demands the CSA have sent out in the past. I realise it's all relative, but I bet some of those guys the CSA are demanding thousands of POUNDS a month from wish the demand was in PESOS

[Englishman2010]

Tell your friend and her immediate family to speak with the Barangay captain and explain their fears about an imminent abduction..Let us know what he has to say and what solution he proposes..
Thanks..

Thanks Fred, she will do that

[Terpe]

Englishman, I'm just trying to help.
No mater what anyone says about what is right or wrong.
I would suggest someone needs to look at the Philippines Family Law.
Whatever the case, It does seem that the 'father' (needs to be proven) does have a legal and moral right to contact and visitation rights. The way forward needs careful consideration (as always in Phils)

Just my two centavos worth

[Englishman2010]

Englishman, I'm just trying to help.
No mater what anyone says about what is right or wrong.
I would suggest someone needs to look at the Philippines Family Law.
Whatever the case, It does seem that the 'father' (needs to be proven) does have a legal and moral right to contact and visitation rights. The way forward needs careful consideration (as always in Phils)

Just my two centavos worth

I agree Terpe, and that would definitely be the case in the UK. However, in the UK the Father would also be forced to pay his dues or face proceedings if he didn't. I've suggested that my friend speaks to a Filipino lawyer for clarification of the legal position over there.

[sars_notd_virus]

http://jlp-law.com/blog/legal-support-child-ra-9262/

''If you’re a parent, it is safe to assume that you would want the best for your child and you wouldn’t hesitate to provide adequate support. However, it’s unfortunate that when it comes to support for the common children (whether legitimate or illegitimate), so many fathers still fail (or worse, simply refuse) to provide adequate support. Whatever the reason is, and regardless of whether or not these reasons are correct, the problem became pervasive, so much so that Congress saw it fit to “criminalize” (only against fathers) the withholding of support in certain instances. Not everyone knows that this is covered under Republic Act No. 9262, otherwise known as the “Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004“.

Not everyone also knows that R.A. 9262 provides for criminal sactions or penalties for failure to provide support or withholding custody, in certain cases. Well, now you know.''






...let your friend see a lawyer and discuss about this Republic act 9262 Anti Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004,...this will help and she can give a copy to the father of the child if he ask for visitation rights or whatever custody he pleads which sounds ridiculuos to me.

[Englishman2010]

Thanks Sars, that's really useful info

[grahamw48]

Until the 'father' produces PROOF...ie DNA test result, then he has no status I would have thought, since he is not named on the birth cert.

That doesn't mean he won't try to kidnap the child of course, but again, without PROOF he would then be no more than a child kidnapper.