Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 11642)
It is known as the 'Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act.'
The State ensures every child remains under parental care with love and security, provides alternative care only when necessary, and prioritizes the best interest of the child following various international and domestic child rights standards.
The NACC is a reorganized one-step quasi-judicial agency attached to the DSWD that handles matters on alternative child care, including adoption, foster care, and declarations of a child legally available for adoption.
The Head or Executive Director of a licensed or accredited child-caring or child-placing agency or institution managing custody of the child, or provincial, city, or municipal social welfare development officer (SWDO), or with consent of custodian if under custody of another individual.
They include: home and child case study reports, authenticated birth records, marriage certificate or equivalent, clearances, written consent from biological parents and child (if over 10 years), death certificates of biological parents (if applicable), CDCLAA, medical and psychological evaluations, child care plan, character references, recent photos, and proof of financial capacity.
STC lasts up to six (6) months to allow emotional and psychological adjustment between adopted child and adoptive parents, monitored by a social worker.
Imprisonment ranging from six (6) years and one day to twelve (12) years or a fine of at least Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) but not more than Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000), or both.
Any Filipino citizen at least 25 years old with full civil capacity and legal rights, legal guardians with clearance, Philippine officials abroad, and foreign nationals who are permanent residents meeting qualifications and residency requirements.
The adoptee becomes the legitimate child of the adopter with full parental authority vested on the adoptive parents, severing the parental rights of the biological parents except when the biological parent is the spouse of the adopter.
Grounds include repeated physical or verbal maltreatment after counseling, attempt on adoptee's life, abandonment, and failure to comply with parental obligations by the adopter.