SILVA VS. CA (1997)
Parents have the natural right, as well as the moral and legal duty, to care for their children, see to their proper upbringing and safeguard their best interest and welfare. This authority and responsibility may not be unduly denied the parents; neither may it be renounced by them. Even when the parents are estranged and their affection for each other is lost, the attachment and feeling for their offsprings invariably remain unchanged. Neither the law nor the courts allow this affinity to suffer absent, of course, any real, grave and imminent threat to the well-being of the child. FACTS: Carlitos E. Silva, married, and Suzanne T. Gonzales, unmarried, cohabited without the benefit of marriage. The union saw the birth of two children: Ramon Carlos and Rica Natalia. Not very long after, a rift in their relationship surfaced. At any rate, the two eventually parted ways. The instant controversy was spawned by the refusal of Gonzales to allow Silva to have the children in his company on wee...