@MeganFox
i am one those poor child. i never had a father. i carried his last name. i got married and now my wife carries his last name too. im sorry but what you say is not true at all according to PH law.
Art 176 of Family Code says that "Illegitimate children shall use the surname of the mother and under the parental authority of the mother..."
if you did in fact use the surname of the father and the child is still considered illegitimate because the father did not acknowledge or recognize the child, then that means the mother still has exclusive parental authority over the child.
but i don't think any of these statements is true for the above situation, isn't it? first of all, the surname of the father was used. second, the father recognized the child and his name was even on the birth certificate. so in reality, even though the child is illegitimate (born out of wedlock), the mother has no exclusive authority of the child.
please read on RA 9255 for further information.