Illegitimate child recognized by father entitled to financial support

Illegitimate child recognized by father entitled to financial support "I have a five-year-old daughter out of wedlock. Her father acknowledged her in her birth certificate and is using his surname. However, her father has stopped sending support for our daughter since 2011. What can I do to ask for support? Her father is already living and working abroad.JB Dear JB,The law obligates all parents to give financial support to all their legitimate and illegitimate children (Article 195, Family Code of the Philippines). But unlike legitimate children who are automatically entitled to support from their father, illegitimate children shall only have a right to support if they have been expressly recognized by the father through the record of birth appearing in the civil register, or when an admission in a public document or private handwritten instrument is made by the father (Section 1, RA No. 9255). Your daughter is clearly entitled to receive financial support from her father because she was duly recognized by the latter in her birth certificate and was in fact using her father’s surname. The obligation of his father shall not stop nor be interrupted simply because the father has gone working and living abroad. The right of your daughter to receive support from her father shall be demandable from the time she needs it for maintenance but shall only be paid upon extrajudicial or judicial demand (Article 203, Family Code of the Philippines).Hence, you may initially ask for financial support from the father of your daughter by sending him a demand letter for support. If he unjustly refuses to give support to your daughter despite your extrajudicial demand, you may file a petition for support against him before our courts. However, since he is already living abroad, summons must be served to him by means of extraterritorial service as provided in Section 15, Rule 14 of the Rules of Court so that our courts may acquire jurisdiction over his person: “Section 15. Extraterritorial service.—When the defendant does not reside and is not found in the Philippines, and the action affects the personal status of the plaintiff or relates to, or the subject of which is, property within the Philippines, in which the defendant has or claims a lien or interest, actual or contingent, or in which the relief demanded consists, wholly or in part, in excluding the defendant from any interest therein, or the property of the defendant has been attached within the Philippines, service may, by leave of court, be effected out of the Philippines by personal service as under Section 6 or by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in such places and for such time as the court may order, in which case a copy of the summons and order of the court shall be sent by registered mail to the last known address of the defendant, or in any other manner the court may deem sufficient. Any order granting such leave shall specify a reasonable time, which shall not be less than sixty (60) days after notice, within which the defendant must answer.” (17a)We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated." - https://www.affordablecebu.com/