Laws and Rule on Adoption and Child Care

Section 1

This Act shall be known as the "Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995."

Section 1

This Act shall be known as the "Simulated Birth Rectification Act".

Section 2

It is hereby declared the policy of the State to provide every neglected and abandoned child with a family that will provide such child with love and care as well as opportunities for growth and development. Towards this end, efforts shall be exerted to place the child with an adoptive family in the Philippines. However, recognizing that inter-country adoption may be considered as allowing aliens, not presently allowed by law to adopt Filipino children if such children cannot be adopted by qualified Filipino citizens or aliens, the State shall take measures to ensure that inter-country adoptions are allowed when the same shall prove beneficial to the child's best interests, and shall serve and protect his/her fundamental rights.

Sec 2

It is hereby declared the policy of the State to ensure that every child remains under the care and custody of the parents and be provided with love, care, understanding, and security towards the full and harmonious development of the child’s personality. Only when such efforts prove insufficient and no appropriate placement or adoption within the child’s extended family is available shall adoption by an unrelated person be considered. The best interest of the child shall be the paramount consideration in the enactment of alternative care, custody, and adoption policies. It shall be in accordance with the tenets set forth in all the rights of the child enumerated under Article 3 of Presidential Decree No. 603, otherwise known as the "Child and Youth Welfare Code”; the "United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)"; the “United Nations Guidelines on Alternative Care of Children”; the “United Nations Declaration on Social and Legal Principles Relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children with Special Reference to Foster Placement and Adoption. Nationally and Internationally”; and the "Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption”. Toward this end, the State shall: Ensure that a child without parental care, or at risk of losing it, is provided with alternative care options such as adoption and foster care; Establish alternative care standards to ensure that the quality of life and living conditions set are conducive to the child’s development; Safeguard the biological parents from making hasty decisions to relinquish parental authority over the child; Prevent unnecessary separation of the child from the biological parents; Protect the adoptive parents from attempts to disturb their parental authority and custody over the adopted child; Conduct public information and educational campaign to promote a positive environment for adoption; Ensure that sufficient capacity exists within government and private sector agencies to handle adoption inquiries, process domestic adoption petitions, and offer adoption-related services, including pre-adoption and post-adoption services, for the biological parents, children, and adoptive parents; Encourage domestic adoption so as to preserve the child’s identity and culture in the child's native land, and only when this is not feasible shall inter-country adoption be considered; and Establish a system of cooperation with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), to prevent the sale, trafficking, and abduction of children and to protect Filipino children abandoned overseas who are made vulnerable by their irregular status. No child shall be a subject of administrative adoption unless the status of the child has been declared legally available for adoption except in cases of relative or step-parent adoption where such declaration is not required. Independent placement cases, or the entrustment of a child by the birthparents to a relative or another person without seeking intervention from government, nongovernment, or any social worker, will be covered by the provisions of this Act if the child is already in the custody of their custodian before the effectivity of this Act. It is hereby recognized that the administrative adoption processes for the cases of legally-available children, relative, stepchild, and adult adoptees are the most expeditious proceedings that will redound to their best interest.

Section 2

This Act shall have the following objectives: (a) To grant amnesty and allow the rectification of the simulated birth of a child where the simulation was made for the best interest of the child, and that such child has been consistently considered and treated by the person or persons who simulated such birth as her, his, or their own daughter or son; (b) To fix the status and filiation of a child whose birth was simulated by giving such child all the benefits of adoption and ensuring that the child shall be entitled to all the rights provided by law to legally adopted children, without any discrimination of any kind, as well as to love, guidance, and support from the child’s adoptive family; (c) To exempt from criminal, civil, and administrative liability those who simulated the birth record of a child prior to the effectivity of this Act: Provided, That a petition for adoption with an application for the rectification of the simulated birth record is filed within ten (10) years from the effectivity of this Act; (d) To provide for and allow a simpler and less costly administrative adoption proceeding where the child has been living with the person or persons who simulated her or his birth record for at least three (3) years before the effectivity of this Act; and (e) To educate and inform the public about the rectification of simulated births, and to encourage people to avail of the benefits of this Act.

Sec 3

This Act shall provide for and allow simpler and inexpensive domestic administrative adoption proceedings and shall streamline services for alternative child care. Pursuant to this, it shall create the National Authority for Child Care (NACC), which shall exercise all powers and functions relating to alternative child care including, declaring a child legally available for both domestic administrative adoption and inter-country adoption, foster care, kinship care, family-like care, or residential care.

Section 3

As used in this Act, the term: a) Inter-country adoption refers to the socio-legal process of adopting a Filipino child by a foreigner or a Filipino citizen permanently residing abroad where the petition is filed, the supervised trial custody is undertaken, and the decree of adoption is issued outside the Philippines. b) Child means a person below fifteen (15) years of age unless sooner emancipated by law. c) Department refers to the Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Republic of the Philippines. d) Secretary refers to the Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. e) Authorized and accredited agency refers to the State welfare agency or a licensed adoption agency in the country of the adopting parents which provide comprehensive social services and which is duly recognized by the Department. f) Legally-free child means a child who has been voluntarily or involuntarily committed to the Department, in accordance with the Child and Youth Welfare Code. g) Matching refers to the judicious pairing of the adoptive child and the applicant to promote a mutually satisfying parent-child relationship. h) Board refers to the Inter-country Adoption Board.

Section 3

As used in this Act: (a) Certification Declaring a Child Legally Available for Adoption (CDCLAA) refers to a document issued by the Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or the Secretary’s duly authorized representative as provided for by Republic Act No. 9523, otherwise known as "An Act Requiring Certification of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to Declare a ‘Child Legally Available for Adoption’ as a Prerequisite for Adoption Proceedings, Amending for this Purpose Certain Provisions of Republic Act No. 8552, otherwise known as the Domestic Adoption Act of 1998; Republic Act No. 8043, otherwise known as the Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995; and Presidential Decree No. 603, otherwise known as the Child and Youth Welfare Code, and for Other Purposes", administratively declaring that a child is legally available for adoption which terminates the rights of the biological parents, guardian, or other custodian to exercise authority over the child upon issuance of the certificate; (b) Child refers to a person below eighteen (18) years of age, or a person eighteen (18) years of age or over who is unable to fully take care of herself or himself or protect herself or himself from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition, whose birth was simulated; (c) Foundling refers to a child who is abandoned and whose parentage is unknown; (d) Regional Director refers to the head of a field office of the DSWD; (e) Secretary refers to the Secretary of the DSWD; (f) Simulation of birth record refers to the tampering of the civil registry to make it appear in the record of birth that a child was born to a person who is not such child’s biological mother, causing the loss of the true identity and status of such child; and (g) Social Welfare and Development Officer refers to the head of a city or municipal social welfare and development office, which serves as the frontline of a city or municipal government in the delivery of social welfare and development programs and services. RECTIFICATION OF SIMULATED BIRTHS

Sec 4

As used in this Act: Abandoned child refers to a child who has no proper parental care or guardianship, a foundling, or one who has been deserted by one’s parents for a period of at least three (3) continuous months, and has been declared as such by the NACC; Abandoned Filipino child in a foreign country refers to an unregistered or undocumented child found outside the Philippine territory, with known or unknown facts of birth, separated from or deserted by the biological Filipino parent, guardian, or custodian for a period of at least three (3) continuous months and committed to a foreign orphanage or charitable institution or in temporary informal care, and has been declared as such by the NACC, upon recommendation of the Office of Social Welfare Attaché (OSWA) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). or the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA); Actual custodian refers to the guardian or spouses who raised a child or person and consistently treated the child as their own; Adoption refers to the socio-legal process of providing a permanent family to a child whose parents had voluntarily or involuntarily given up their parental rights, permanently transferring all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, making the child a legitimate child of the adoptive parents: Provided, That adult adoption shall also be covered by the benefits of this Act: In the interest of clarity, adoption shall cease to be part of alternative child care and becomes parental care as soon as the process is completed; Adoption para-social worker refers to an unregistered and unlicensed social work practitioner who ideally has three (3) years of experience in handling alternative child care or adoption cases, or both; Adoption social worker refers to an individual who is registered and licensed by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), in accordance with Republic Act No. 9433, otherwise known as the “Magna Carta for Public Social Workers" and who ideally has three (3) years of experience in handling alternative child care or adoption cases, or both. For purposes of this Act, in the event that an adoption social worker is not available, adoption para-social worker shall be allowed to render the services required: Provided, That only duly registered and licensed social workers shall sign and submit the pertinent documents; Alternative child care refers to the provision of planned substitute parental care to a child who is orphaned, abandoned, neglected, or surrendered, by a child-caring or child-placing agency. This may include foster care, kinship care, family-like care, and residential care; Child refers to a person below eighteen (18) years of age or a person eighteen (18) years of age or over but who is unable to fully take care or protect himself or herself from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because of physical or psychosocial disability or condition: Provided, That for the purpose of this Act, where relevant, a child shall also refer to an adult son, daughter, or offspring; Child Legally Available for Adoption (CLAA) refers to a child in whose favor a certification was issued by the NACC that such child is legally available for adoption after the fact of abandonment or neglect has been proven through the submission of pertinent documents, or one who was voluntarily committed by the child’s parents or legal guardian; Certificate Declaring a Child Legally Available for Adoption (CDCLAA) refers to the final written administrative order issued by the NACC declaring a child to be abandoned and neglected, and committing such child to the care of the NACC through a foster parent, guardian, or duly licensed child-caring or child-placing agency. The rights of the biological parents, guardian, or other custodian to exercise authority over the child shall cease upon issuance of the CDCLAA; Child-caring agency refers to a duly licensed and accredited agency by the DSWD that provides twenty-four (24)-hour residential care services for abandoned, orphaned, neglected, or voluntarily and involuntarily committed children; Child case study report refers to a written report prepared by an adoption social worker containing all the necessary information about a child, including the child's legal status, placement history, past and present biopsychosocial and spiritual aspects, case background, ethno-cultural background, and biological family background or history; Child-placing agency refers to a private nonprofit or charitable or government agency duly licensed and accredited agency by the DSWD to provide comprehensive child welfare services including receiving and processing of petitions for adoption and foster care, evaluating the prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) or foster parents, preparing the child case study report and home study report; Child Placement Committee (CPC) refers to the committee under the supervision of the Deputy Director for Services composed of a child psychiatrist or psychologist, a medical doctor, a lawyer, an adoption social worker, a representative of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) engaged in child welfare, and any other professional as may be needed, to provide the necessary assistance in reviewing petitions for adoption; Deed of Voluntary Commitment (DVC) refers to the notarized instrument relinquishing parental authority and committing the child to the care and custody of the NACC or child-placing or child-caring agency, executed by the child’s biological parents or by the child’s legal guardian in their absence, mental incapacity or death, to be signed in the presence of an authorized representative of the NACC, after counseling and other services have been made available to encourage the child’s biological parents or legal guardian to keep the child; Domestic adoption refers to an administrative adoption proceeding where the Order of Adoption is issued within the Philippines and is undertaken between a Filipino child and eligible adoptive parents; Foreign national refers to any person who is not a Filipino citizen; Foster care refers to the provision of planned temporary substitute parental care to a child by a foster parent; Foster child refers to a child placed under foster care; Foster parent refers to a person, duly licensed by the NACC, to provide foster care; Foundling refers to a deserted or abandoned child of unknown parentage and whose date or circumstances of birth on Philippine territory are unknown and undocumented. This shall also include those with the above circumstances of birth during their infancy and/or childhood, and have reached the age of majority without benefitting from adoption procedures; Home study report refers to a written report prepared by an adoption social worker relative to the motivation and capacity of the prospective adoptive or foster parents to provide a home that meets the needs of a child; Inter-country adoption refers to the socio-legal process of adopting a child by a foreign national or a Filipino citizen habitually a resident outside Philippine territory which complies with the principles stated in the Hague Convention of 1993; Involuntarily committed child refers to one who has been permanently deprived of parental authority due to: abandonment; substantial, continuous, or repeated neglect; abuse or incompetence to discharge parental responsibilities of known or unknown parents; Local Social Welfare Development Officer (LSWDO) refers to a person who is a duly licensed social worker and appointed by the local chief executive to head the provincial, city, or municipal social welfare development office which serves as the frontline of the local government unit (LGU) in the delivery of social welfare and development programs and services; Matching refers to the judicious selection from the regional or interregional levels of a family for a child based on the child’s needs and best interest as well as the capability and commitment of the adoptive parents to provide such needs and promote a mutually satisfying parent-child relationship; Neglected child refers to a child whose physical and emotional needs have been deliberately unattended or inadequately attended within a period of three (3) continuous months. A child is unattended when left without the proper provisions or proper supervision; Petition refers to the duly accomplished application form for foster care or adoption, including the social case study report and its supporting documents from an authorized or accredited agency or central authority; Placement refers to the physical entrustment of the child with the foster parent or to the adoptive parents; Post-adoption services refer to psychosocial services and support services provided by adoption social workers after the issuance of the Order of Adoption by the NACC or Final Decree of Adoption or its equivalent; Pre-Adoption Placement Authority (PAPA) refers to a document issued by the NACC, through the Regional Alternative Child Care Office (RACCO), authorizing or confirming the placement of a child to the prospective adoptive parents; Prospective Adoptive Parent (PAP) refers to an individual who has filed a petition for administrative adoption; Regional Child Placement Committee (RCPC) refers to the matching committee organized by the NACC, through the RACCO, that is tasked to deliberate the regional and interregional matching of children legally available for adoption and approved prospective adoptive parents; Relative refers to someone other than family members, within the fourth (4th) civil degree of consanguinity or affinity; Simulation of birth record refers to the tampering of the civil registry to make it appear in the record of birth that a child was born to a person who is not such child’s biological mother, causing the loss of the true identity and status of such child; Social case study report refers to the report prepared by the adoption social worker on the PAP’s capacity to raise the child; the social agency efforts to locate the child's biological parents or relatives; interventions given to the child and the family; and the adoption social worker’s assessment of the case. It shall include both the child case study report and the home study report; Social worker refers to a licensed practitioner by the PRC who, by academic training and social work professional experience, possesses the skill to achieve the objectives as defined and set by the social work profession, through the use of the basic methods and techniques of social work (case work, group work, and community organization) which are designed to enable individuals, groups and communities to meet their needs and to solve the problems of adjustment to a hanging pattern of society and. through coordination with an organized social work agency which is supported partially or wholly from government or community solicited funds; Step-parent refers to a parent who is married to the mother or father of a child, but who is not that child’s biological mother or father; Supervised trial custody (STC) refers to the period of time after the placement of a child in an adoptive home whereby an adoption social worker helps the adoptive family and the child in the adjustment process to facilitate the legal union through adoption; Support refers to everything indispensable for the full and harmonious development of the child, including sustenance, dwelling, clothing, medical attention, and education, in keeping with the financial capacity of the family; and Voluntarily committed child refers to the one whose parent or legal guardian knowingly and willingly relinquished parental authority to the NACC, the DSWD, or any duly accredited child-placing or child-caring agency or institution.

Sec 5

Citizenship Status of a Foundling Found in the Philippines and/or in Philippine Embassies, Consulates and Territories Abroad. — A foundling found in the Philippines and/or in Philippine embassies, consulates and territories abroad is presumed a natural-born Filipino citizen regardless of the status or circumstances of birth. As a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a foundling is accorded with rights and protections at the moment of birth equivalent to those belonging to such class of citizens whose citizenship does not need perfection or any further act. The presumption of natural-born status of a foundling may not be impugned in any proceeding unless substantial proof of foreign parentage is shown. The natural-born status of a foundling shall not also be affected by the fact that the birth certificate was simulated, or that there was absence of a legal adoption process, or that there was inaction or delay in reporting, documenting, or registering a foundling.

Sec 6

In the event that the biological parents cannot be identified and located, the foundling shall be declared legally available for adoption subject to existing laws, rules and regulations and taking into consideration the best interest of the child. The relevant provisions of Republic Act No. 11642, otherwise known as the "Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act", shall apply in the adoption of foundlings. Consistent with Section 41 of Republic Act No. 11642, once the adoption of the foundling is finalized, the adopted foundling shall be considered the legitimate child of the adopter for all intents and purposes and, as such, is entitled to all the rights and obligations provided by law to legitimate children born to them without discrimination of any kind. To this end, the adoptee is entitled to love, guidance, and support in keeping with the means of the family. The legitimate filiation that is created between the adopter and adopted foundling shall be extended to the adopter's parents, adopter's legitimate siblings, and legitimate descendants. The adopter is also given the right to choose the name by which the adopted foundling is to be known, consistent with the best interest of the child.

Sec 7

The NACC, LSWDO, and any accredited child-caring or child-placing agency shall ensure that foundlings are provided with alternative child care options, such as but not limited to kinship care, foster care, or even residential care, consistent with existing laws, while the search and inquiry into the facts of birth and parentage of the foundling is ongoing.

Sec 8

A foundling shall, as a matter of right, be entitled to every available government program or service, including registration, facilitation of documents for adoption, education, legal and police protection, proper nourishment and medical care for survival and development, and admission to safe and secure child centers. The NACC, through the RACCOs, all relevant government agencies, the concerned local government units (LGUs), police authority and the finder shall, at all times, consider the child's best interest in all actions or support services provided for a foundling.