Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 9858)
Republic Act No. 9858 provides for the legitimation of children born to parents below the marrying age, amending the Family Code of the Philippines to allow legitimation if the parents were only disqualified to marry due to being under eighteen years old.
It amends Article 177 to include children conceived and born outside wedlock whose parents were only disqualified to marry because one or both were below eighteen years of age, allowing such children to be legitimated.
Children born out of wedlock can be legitimated if their parents subsequently enter into a valid marriage, provided the only impediment to marry at the time of conception was due to either or both being under 18 years old.
No, the annulment of a voidable marriage does not affect the legitimation of children under this law as stated in amended Article 178 of the Family Code.
The Civil Registrar General, in consultation with designated government bodies and associations, is responsible for issuing the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of RA 9858.
The chairpersons of the Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations of the Senate, the Council for the Welfare of Children, the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Supreme Court Administrator, the Philippine Association of Civil Registrars, and the UP Law Center.
All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, proclamations, and administrative regulations inconsistent with RA 9858 are amended, modified, superseded, or repealed accordingly.
The Act took effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of national circulation.
It grants legal recognition to children born to parents who were underage at conception but later married validly, ensuring such children have rights and status equivalent to those born within wedlock.