A lawyer said that even without Paolo Contis’ permission, his daughter Xalene and Xonia have the right to remove ‘Contis’ in their name.
It can be recalled that former EB Babe member Lian Paz revealed that her daughters to Paolo were already asking her if it’s allowed for them to remove the surname of their father because of its absence in their life.
“Asking na nga po ang mga bata to have it changed,” Lian said.
While it sounds complicated, especially Paolo would obviously oppose the plan of his daughters, Atty. Anselmo S. Rodiel IV believed that even without the actor’s permission, Xalene and Xonia could decide on their own whether they wanted to use Contis’ surname or not.
Atty. Rodiel cited Article 364 of the Civil Code saying that using the surname of their father is only principal and not exclusive.
“The child has a CHOICE to NOT use the surname of Mr. Contis‼️ Article 364 of the Civil Code says “legitimate children shall PRINCIPALLY use the surname of the father.” PRINCIPALLY does not mean EXCLUSIVELY, so may choice ang bata!” Atty. Rodiel wrote.
However, some netizens who saw the lawyer’s post said that Xalene and Xonia still need a court decision to remove the surname of their father.
“Please expound further that there are limitations and only a FEW GROUNDS when a child/person can change his/her surname. In other words, hindi basta basta at dahil “gusto lang”. The change of surname needs judicial authority, thus, to be filed in court.” netizen FJ said.
Paolo has yet to respond to the possible move of his former partner.