An illegitimate child is under the sole parental authority of the mother. In the exercise of that authority, she is entitled to keep the child in her company. The Court will not deprive her of custody, absent any imperative cause showing her unfitness to exercise such authority and care -- SC
David v. Court of Appeals held that
the recognition of an illegitimate child by the father could be a ground for ordering the latter to give support to, but not custody of, the child. The law explicitly confers to the mother sole parental authority over an illegitimate child; it follows that only if she defaults can the father assume custody and authority over the minor. Of course, the putative father may adopt his own illegitimate child;24 in such a case, the child shall be considered a legitimate child of the adoptive parent.25
There is thus no question that Respondent Loreta, being the mother of and having sole parental authority over the minor, is entitled to have custody of him.26 She has the right to keep him in her company.27 She cannot be deprived of that right,28 and she may not even renounce or transfer it "except in the cases authorized by law."29
Not to be ignored in Article 213 of the Family Code is the caveat that, generally, no child under seven years of age shall be separated from the mother, except when the court finds cause to order otherwise.
In the past, the following grounds have been considered ample justification to deprive a mother of custody and parental authority: neglect or abandonment,31 unemployment, immorality,32 habitual drunkenness, drug addiction, maltreatment of the child, insanity, and affliction with a communicable disease.
Bearing in mind the welfare and the best interest of the minor as the controlling factor, WE hold that the CA did not err in awarding care, custody, and control of the child to Respondent Loreta. There is no showing at all that she is unfit to take charge of him.
We likewise affirm the visitorial right granted by the CA to petitioner.
In Silva v. Court of Appeals, the Court sustained the visitorial right of an illegitimate father over his children in view of the constitutionally protected inherent and natural right of parents over their children.
Even when the parents are estranged and their affection for each other is lost, their attachment to and feeling for their offspring remain unchanged. Neither the law nor the courts allow this affinity to suffer, absent any real, grave or imminent threat to the well-being of the child.
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