1/5/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly The OSG has not refuted the petitioners' assertion. Section 1 and Section 2, Rule 129 of the Rules of Court state: Section 1. Judicial notice, when mandatory. — A court shall take judicial notice, without the introduction of evidence, of the existence and territorial extent of states, their political history, forms of government and symbols of nationality, the law of nations, the admiralty and maritime courts of the world and their seals, the political constitution and history of the Philippines, the official acts of legislative, executive and judicial departments of the Philippines, the laws of nature, the measure of time, and the geographical divisions. (1a) Section 2. Judicial notice, when discretionary. — A court may take judicial notice of matters which are of public knowledge, or are capable to unquestionable demonstration, or ought to be known to judges because of their judicial functions. The courts of the Philippines are bound to take judicial notice of the existence of the diplomatic relations between our country and Japan pursuant to both Section 1 and Section 2, supra. Diplomatic relations form part of the official acts of the Executive Department of our Government. They are also matters of public knowledge. There is no dispute, indeed, that the Philippines and Japan have had a long history of diplomatic relations.[15] In 1888, Japan already established a diplomatic office in Manila, and expanded it as a Consulate General in 1919. Eventually, Japan declared its office in Manila an embassy in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of the country. Both countries were also signatories to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, an indication that they wished to have a more prominent diplomatic presence in each other by sending of diplomatic missions. This further shows that both countries, being signatories to the Vienna Convention, aimed to have the representation of the interests of the sending state and promoting friendly relations with the receiving state.[16] The countless efforts to maintain their diplomatic relations no longer required the presentation of proof of the existence of diplomatic relations. WHEREFORE, the Court GRANTS the petition for review on certiorari; REVERSES and SETS ASIDE the judgment and order rendered, respectively, on February 14, 2012 and January 22, 2013 by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 33, in Davao City in SP. Proc. No. 10, 718-2010; GRANTS the petition for adoption; DECLARES that henceforth, JAN AUREL MAGHANOY BULAYO, is freed from all legal obligations of obedience and maintenance with respect to his biological father, and shall be, to all intents and purposes, the child of the Spouses Mary Jane B. Kimura and Yuichiro Kimura, with his surname to be changed to KIMURA. Let a copy of this decision be each furnished to the Office of the Solicitor General; the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Regional Office, Region XI, in Davao https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66000 8/10