Vancil v.

Belmes
G.R.No. 132223 ll Jun. 19, 2001 ll Sandoval - Gutierrez, J.
317 332
Cruz
Persons and Family Relations

KEYWORDS:
US citizen grandma v mother, guardianship

their parentswithout need of court appointment.In 1998,

Bonifacia Vancil filed with SCpetition for review on
certiorari.Helen stated in her Manifestation/Motionthat at
the time of the petition, Valerie wasalready 18 years old
and should no longer beincluded in the guardianship
proceedings, whichCA noted and eventually ruled petition
as mootwith respect to her.
ISSUE:
Who between the mother and grandmotherof minor
Vincent should be his guardian
RULING

DOCTRINES

:Petition denied. CA decision affirmed.

RATIO:

Art. 214. In case of death, absence or

Helen, being the natural mother of theminor, has the

preferential right over that of petitioner to be his guardian,
as provided underArt. 211, FC which provides:

unsuitability of the parents, substitute parentalauthority

shall be exercised by the surviving
grandparent. But if either parent is alive,grandparent
should prove parents unsuitability
in order to claim rights of substitute
parentalauthority.Courts should not appoint persons
asguardians who are not within the jurisdiction of our
courts for they will find it difficult to protectthe wards.
FACTS:
In May 1987, Bonifacia Vancil, a naturalizedUS citizen,
commenced before the RTC of CebuCity guardianship
proceedings over the personsand properties of minors
Valerie (6) and Vincent(2), her grandchildren from his son
Reeder C.Vancil, a US Navy serviceman who died in theUS,
with his common-law wife, Helen G.Belmes. It is claimed in
the petition that theminors are residents of Cebu City,
Philippinesand have an estate consisting of proceeds from
their fathers death pension benefits with a
probable value of P100,000. Bonifacia Vancilwas
eventually appointed legal and judicialguardian over the
persons and estate thechildren.Helen submitted an
opposition to thesubject guardianship proceedings
asseveratingthat she had already filed a similar petition
forguardianship before the RTC of Pagadian City.She then
followed this with a motion for theRemoval of Guardian
and Appointment of aNew One, asserting that she is the
naturalmother in actual custody of and exercisingparental
authority over the minors at Maralag,Dumingag,
Zamboanga del Sur where they arepermanently residing;
that the petition wasfiled under an improper venue; and
that at thetime the petition was filed Bonifacia Vancil wasa
naturalized American citizen and a residentthereof.
RTC rejected and denied Belmes motion to

Art. 211. The father and the mother

shall jointly exercise parental authorityover the persons of
their commonchildren. In case of disagreement, the
fathers decision shall prevail, unlessthere is a judicial
order to the contrary.

Bonifacias claim to be the guardian of said

minor can only be realized by way of substituteparental
authority pursuant to Art. 214, FC:
Art. 214. In case of death, absence or
unsuitability of the parents, substituteparental authority
shall be exercised by
the surviving grandparent.
Bonifacia then, as the surviving

Vancil v. Belmes
G.R.No. 132223 ll Jun. 19, 2001 ll Sandoval - Gutierrez, J.
318 332
Cruz
Persons and Family Relations

remove and/or to disqualify Bonifacia asguardian of Valerie

and Vincent Jr. and insteadordered petitioner Bonifacia
Vancil to enter theoffice and perform her duties as such
guardianupon the posting of a bond of P50,000.00.

grandparent, can exercise substitute parentalauthority

only in case of death, absence orunsuitability of
respondent. Considering thatthe mother is very much alive
and has exercisedcontinuously parental authority over
Vincent,Bonifacia has to prove, in asserting her right to

Upon appeal in 1988, CA reversed RTCs

be the minors guardian, respondents

decision based on legal provisions (Civil Code,PD 603, FC

Art.225) and Rules of Court (Sec.7,Rule 93) which vests
parental authority andguardianship of minor children to

unsuitability. She, however, has failed toprovide

convincing evidence showing thatHelen is not suited to be
the guardian of Vincent. She merely insists that Helen is
morallyunfit as guardian of Valerie considering that the

latters live
-in partner raped Valerie severaltimes. But Valerie, being
now of major age, isno longer a subject of the
guardianshipproceeding.Even assuming that Helen is unfit
asguardian of minor Vincent, Bonifacia cannotqualify as a
substitute guardian as she is anAmerican citizen and a
resident of Colorado,and as such, she will not be able to
perform theresponsibilities and obligations required of

aguardian. In addition to this, her old age and

herconviction of libel will give her a second thoughtof
staying in the Philippines. Generally, courtsshould not
appoint persons as guardians whoare not within the
jurisdiction of our courts,despite not being a statutory
requirement forguardianship or administration, for they
willfind it difficult to protect the wards and theirproperties.
SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF PARENTALAUTHORITY