The Philippine Supreme Court has affirmed the right of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to exercise parental authority, including sole custody, over their children, even while residing abroad.
The Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) retain the right to exercise parental authority , including sole custody, over their children, even while working abroad. This landmark decision, penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, upholds the case of an OFW mother who sought sole custody of her two young children residing in the Philippines. The dispute arose from a separation in 2017 after four years of marriage.
Initially, the parents agreed to joint custody, with the father providing financial support. However, when the mother moved to France for work, she discovered her ex-husband was frequently leaving the children in the care of others without her consent. Concerned for their welfare, she entrusted their care to her mother in the Philippines, officially appointing her maternal grandmother as guardian in her absence through a notarized document. The father then filed a habeas corpus petition seeking custody of the children, arguing that the mother's absence rendered her incapable of exercising custodial rights. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) dismissed the petition, granting the mother exclusive parental authority and permanent custody. The court reasoned that Article 220 of the Family Code grants parents the right to keep their children in their company, and the mother's overseas employment did not negate this right. The RTC placed the children under their grandmother's care while granting the father visitation rights. The Court of Appeals (CA) later modified the ruling, affirming joint parental authority for both parents but maintaining sole custody with the mother and provisional custody with the grandmother. The Supreme Court upheld the CA's decision, emphasizing that an OFW parent should not be deemed 'absent' solely due to overseas employment. It stressed that being an OFW does not strip a parent of their right to exercise parental authority or have custody of their children. The Court also determined that the father was unfit to be a primary caregiver due to his history of habitual drinking, smoking, and violent behavior
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