Dear PAO,
My father had a mistress. He had 2 children with her and he gave support to them since birth. Now, the eldest son is already in his first year college. My father is now refusing to give him

support because his son is hardheaded, he does not want to obey my father’s wish. Their mother obliged or demanded support from my father but my father does not want to give anything because of his reason that he is going to support his children only if they live with him. The eldest son is living with the mother but the daughter is living with me. I am the legitimate child of my father. Is my father correct in not giving support to the eldest son?
Thank you and God bless.
Rebecca

Dear Rebecca,
At the outset, we would like to apprise you that support is a mandatory and essential obligation which cannot be renounced, transmitted or compensated as such obligation is necessary for the existence, survival and well-being of the individual ought to be supported.

The Supreme Court has even said that support is the most sacred and important of all obligations imposed by law and it is imposed with overwhelming reality. The others may sometimes fail but this one should never fail unless for a valid cause (Persons and Family Relations Law, Fourth Edition, 2004. p. 730, Melencio S. Sta. Maria, Jr.).

In line with this, Article 195 of the Family Code pronounced the persons who are obliged to support each other, to wit:

“Article 195. Subject to the provisions of the succeeding articles, the following are obliged to support each other to the whole extent set forth in the preceding article:
x x x       

4.) Parents and their illegitimate children and the legitimate and illegitimate children of the latter;
x x x”
Apparently, your father cannot shirk from his obligation to give financial support to his illegitimate child just because the latter does not comply with the condition imposed by your father that the child should live with him in order to be given support.

Although it is true that under Article 204 of the Family Code, the person obliged to give support shall have the option to fulfill the obligation either by paying the allowance fixed, or by receiving and maintaining in the family dwelling the person who has a right to receive support, this is not without exception. The latter alternative or option cannot be availed of in case there is a moral or legal obstacle thereto.

In the case of your father, we are of the opinion that he cannot insist on asking his illegitimate child, who is the eldest son, to stay with him since there is definitely a moral obstacle to do so. It cannot be denied that there will always be an animosity between the legitimate and illegitimate family of your father.

Furthermore, in the case of Daisie T. David vs. Court of Appeals, Ramon R. Villar (G.R. No. 111180, November 16, 1995), the Supreme Court emphatically ruled that even when an illegitimate child is over seven years of age, the mother’s custody over him will have to be upheld because the child categorically expressed preference to live with his mother. Under Article 213 of the Family Code, courts must respect the “choice of the child over seven years of age, unless the parent chosen is unfit.” It was further ruled that, if the father loves his child, he should not condition the grant of support for him on the award of his custody to him.

Thus, your father must respect the choice of his illegitimate child of staying with the mother and should not deprive his son of the support due him.

To end, we deem it proper for your father to continue giving the support due his son if only to prevent further suits against him.

We hope that we were able to guide you on what to do regarding your concern.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .