Que Liong Sian v. Republic
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: The underlying dispute concerns a petition for a change of name filed by Lee Liong Sian, also known as George Que Liong Sian. The petitioner, who had become a Filipino citizen by naturalization on May 27, 1961, sought to change his name to George Lee Neri. His stated reasons included a desire for full integration into Filipino society, the belief that his Chinese family name was a hindrance to his social and business dealings, and a wish to prevent his future children from experiencing discrimination. Procedural History: The Court of First Instance of Misamis Occidental granted the petition for a change of name on May 11, 1964. The government, represented by the Republic of the Philippines, appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, asserting that the appeal involved questions of law. The record was subsequently elevated to the Supreme Court. After several extensions for filing the appellant's brief, the Solicitor General moved to withdraw the appeal, citing that the intended objections were technical and would be a waste of time. The Petition: The appeal was lodged with the Supreme Court by the Republic of the Philippines. The Solicitor General, however, instead of filing a brief, moved to withdraw the appeal. The motion to withdraw was later considered by the Supreme Court as the appellant's brief. The Supreme Court, in its resolution, noted the petitioner's desire to adopt a Filipino name for integration and to overcome social and business handicaps, and found no fraudulent or trivial purpose behind the petition. Consequently, the Court granted the withdrawal of the appeal, citing Section 2 of Rule 50.
Issue(s)
Whether the petition for change of name was properly granted. Whether the opposition based on the mention of two alternative names was valid.
Ruling
The appeal was considered withdrawn and/or dismissed. The Supreme Court found no objection to the withdrawal of the appeal, affirming the lower court's decision granting the change of name.
Ratio Decidendi
On the propriety of the change of name: The Court reiterated that while a change of name is a privilege and the State has an interest in names for identification, a sincere desire to adopt a Filipino name to overcome handicaps in social and business life due to alien nationality is a proper and reasonable cause. This is permissible provided there is no prejudice to the State or any individual and the petition is not motivated by fraudulent, trivial, whimsical, or capricious purposes. In this case, the petitioner's reasons for wanting to change his name were deemed sincere and aimed at integration and avoiding discrimination. On the opposition to the petition: The sole ground of opposition before the lower court was that the petition mentioned two alternative names, George Lee Neri and George L. Neri. The lower court correctly ruled that George L. Neri is merely an abbreviation of George Lee Neri and therefore proper. This technicality did not constitute a valid basis for denying the petition, especially given the substantive reasons for the change of name.
Main Doctrine
A sincere desire to adopt a Filipino name to erase signs of a former alien nationality which unduly hamper social and business life is a proper and reasonable cause for a change of name, in the absence of prejudice to the State or any individual, and provided the petition is not motivated by fraudulent, trivial, whimsical, or capricious purposes.