A mother of an illegitimate child working abroad....

I have a daughter age of 7, I left in the Philippines a yr ago to provide the needs of my daughter. Before I left her father and I had an agreement that he could get my daughter every weekend. In case that her father would not return her back to her guardian, could I get any legal actions about it? thank you....

the rule is that only the mother of an illegitimate child has parental authority and right to custody, but the right has to be exercised personally and cannot be transferred to others.

if the father refused to return the child, you would have to personally file a complaint to get your child back. there will be many possible criminal cases such as kidnapping, VAWC, or a petition for habeas corpus.

Is that mean po I need to go home? the story po is like this, I and my daughter's father live together for 8 yrs. Pero po with that 8 years he only work for only 3 to 4 years and hindi pa po stable ang work nya for 8 yrs po my parents still supports us in terms of my education, our daily needs, my daughter's needs, etc kaya po after graduating in college I work po but my salary is not sufficient po to support my child's needs and her father is jobless for years, that is the reason of working here abroad. Then before leaving the Philippines we had a fight and I decide to broke up with him but hindi lng po un nung first time n ngattempt ako mkipaghiwalay sa knya. Then with my fear na pag alis ko po kunin nya ang daughter ko we settle po sa barangay. then a few months po he refuse to return my daughter then I decided to seek help to DSWD but the scenario gets worst to the point that they torture my child emotionally... Then my mother decide to have a vacation to personally get my daughter from their custody because they let my child stop from her studies. From there they talk and agreed both parts that he is allowed to borrow my child every weekend but the fear is still there that he might refuse to return my child.

Hope you could help me.

yes, if it comes to having to file a case for custody, mom vs. father, father has better chance of winning. if it's vs. you, you can't be defeated.

even though po he is been sued for 3 times of criminal case and the dswd finds him unfit to take care of a child?

my recommendation is that if a case were filed, you make yourself a party by intervening and personally appearing because the law may favor the parent who is present. ultimately, in a custody case, the court will decide based on the best interests of the child.

thanks a lot for the help.... in case I will need a legal assistance where could I contact you...

send me an email at attylllaw@gmail.com