Text of the provision
Art. 167. The child shall be considered legitimate although the mother may have declared against its legitimacy or may have been sentenced as an adulteress.
(256a)
Family Code of the Philippines, Executive Order No. 209, approved July 6, 1987. The Code took effect on August 3, 1988 (Republic v. Orbecido III, G.R. No. 154380, October 5, 2005). Reproduced in full.
What this article means
The law protects the child's legitimacy even against the mother herself. A child remains legitimate even if the mother declares that the child is not legitimate, and even if she has been convicted of adultery.
The reason is that legitimacy is the child's right, not the mother's to give away, and paternity turns on the husband's access, not the wife's admissions. Only the husband (or, in proper cases, his heirs) may impugn legitimacy, and only on the narrow grounds of Article 166.
Related provisions
- Article 166 — the exclusive grounds to impugn legitimacy.
- Article 164 — who is a legitimate child.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on Article 167 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.