QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 11642)
RA 11642 is entitled “Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act.” It strengthens alternative child care by providing an administrative process of domestic adoption, reorganizing ICAB into the NACC, and streamlining alternative care/adoption services to be simpler, expeditious, and inexpensive, consistent with the best interest of the child.
The State must ensure the child remains under parental care when possible, only considering adoption/foster care when parental efforts are insufficient and no suitable placement by an unrelated person exists. The best interest of the child is paramount and must align with PD 603 (Child and Youth Welfare Code) and relevant international instruments (UNCRC, UN Guidelines on Alternative Care, and the Hague Convention on inter-country adoption).
CLAA refers to a child in whose favor the NACC issued a certification that the child is legally available for adoption after abandonment/neglect is proven through pertinent documents, or a child voluntarily committed by parents/legal guardians.
CDCLAA is the final written administrative order issued by the NACC declaring a child abandoned/neglected and committing the child to the care of NACC through foster parent/guardian/duly licensed agency. The rights of biological parents/guardian/custodian to exercise authority cease upon issuance of the CDCLAA.
The NACC has original and exclusive jurisdiction over matters including (1) declaring a child legally available for adoption, (2) domestic administrative adoption, (3) adult adoption, and (4) foster care/rectification of simulated birth and other related processes, with authority to impose penalties for violations.
NACC has a Council and a Secretariat. The Council is policy-making and acts en banc as the Appeals Committee for contested denials. The Secretariat executes policies and is headed by an Executive Director (assisted by deputy directors), with supervision of processes through specialized units (including the CPC).
RACCO is created for each region and is tasked to ensure a functioning system for receipt of local petitions for CDCLAA and adoption/placement requests. It has dedicated personnel who handle specific processes like issuance of CDCLAA, domestic/in-country adoption, foster care, family-like/kinship/residential care, and simulated birth rectification.
Under the RACCO, an RCPC is installed for matching deliberations and includes professionals (e.g., child psychiatrist/psychologist, medical doctor, Philippine Bar member, adoption social worker, NGO representative). No member may have relations with the child or prospective adoptive parents being matched.
Petition is filed in the RACCO where the child was found/abandoned/committed/discovered. RACCO examines sufficiency and posts notice for five (5) consecutive days. After completion of posting, RACCO renders recommendation within 15 working days and transmits it to the Executive Director. Executive Director issues CDCLAA within seven (7) working days from receipt of recommendation, unless further investigation is needed.
The petition must be supported by a social case study report and proof of efforts to locate parents/known relatives. Examples of sufficient proof include: certifications of multiple TV/radio airings, publication in a newspaper (dispensed in step-parent/relative cases), police/barangay reports or tracing reports stating parents could not be found, returned mail, birth certificate if available, and photographs of the child during abandonment/admission.
The case is put on hold. The RACCO/Deputy Director/Executive Director directs an immediate Parenting Capability Assessment Report (PCAR) from the LGU where the parents/relatives/guardian reside. Within 15 working days after issuance of PCAR, the handling adoption social worker recommends whether to grant or deny the opposition; then within 15 working days, the concerned NACC authority decides on the merits.
Decisions of the NACC may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within ten (10) days from receipt by the interested party; otherwise the decision becomes final and executory.
Any Filipino citizen at least 25 years old with full civil capacity, legal rights, good moral character, no conviction involving moral turpitude, emotional/psychological capability, at least 16 years older than the adoptee (waivable for biological parent or spouse-of-parent scenarios), and capacity to support/care for the child.
Step-parent adoption, relative adoption, and adult adoption do not undergo matching, provided that for those living in the same household, the child and PAPs have been living in one household for at least two (2) years.
STC facilitates adjustment and bonding after placement before legal adoption, supervised and monitored monthly by the adoption social worker. It lasts not more than six (6) months. It may be waived in cases of stepchild, relative, infant, or adult adoptions as assessed and recommended by the adoption social worker; it may also be reduced or waived in regular cases depending on assessment and PAPs’ express consent.
The adoption process is non-adversarial: the NACC decides based on documents and evidence from personal interviews by the RACCO with the handling adoption social worker, PAPs, and the adoptee. Domestic adoption cases must be decided within sixty (60) calendar days from receipt of the Deputy Director for Services of the RACCO’s recommendation.
An Order of Adoption is a registrable civil registry document stating the name by which the child shall be known and directs the adopter to submit a certified true copy to the civil registrar where the child was originally registered within 30 calendar days. The civil registrar must seal the original birth record (openable only upon NACC order) and the adopter must submit proof of compliance to the NACC within another 30 days.