Natural course - A LAW EACH DAY (KEEPS TROUBLE AWAY)

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Opinion&p=49&type=2&sec=25&aid=2008092189
By Jose C. Sison
9/22/2008

The main issue here is whether the RTC can authorize a change of sex and also as a consequence a change of name in the birth certificate of a person. In a previous case, the SC ruled that a man cannot correct entries in his birth certificate by changing his gender and his name from male to female on the ground that he did not follow the course of nature but had undergone sex change through medical procedure.

In this latest ruling dated September 12, 2008 however, the SC sustained the decision of the RTC allowing the change of gender in the birth certificate of a woman from female to male and consequently from a feminine name to a masculine name.