Legal Basis and Amendatory Effect
- Executive Order No. 91 is an amendment to adoption provisions under the “Child and Youth Welfare Code.”
- Section 1 replaces Articles 27, 28, 29, 31, 33 and 35 to state new operative adoption rules.
- Section 3 repeals or modifies all inconsistent laws, orders, issuances, rules, and regulations.
- Section 3 operates as a conformity clause requiring harmonization with the amended adoption provisions.
Adoption Who May Adopt Rules
- Article 27 states that any person of age and in full possession of civil rights may adopt.
- Article 27 requires that the adopter must be in a position to support and care for the adopter’s legitimate, legitimated or acknowledged natural children, or natural children by legal fiction, or other illegitimate children, in keeping with the family’s means.
- Article 27 requires that an alien not permanently residing in the Philippines seeking to adopt within the country must:
- reside in the Philippines for at least one year immediately preceding the filing of the petition for adoption; and
- reside in the Philippines for the duration of the trial custody period required in the chapter; and
- comply with rules and regulations issued or to be issued by the Council for the Welfare of Children.
- Article 27 allows the court, in its discretion, to reduce or dispense with the residence and trial custody period requirements when the applicant/applicants and the child are related by blood or affinity.
- Article 27 requires that, in all cases of adoption, the adopter must be at least fifteen years older than the person to be adopted.
Prohibitions: Who May Not Adopt
- Article 28 prohibits the following persons from adopting:
- a married person without the written consent of the spouse;
- a guardian with respect to the ward prior to the final approval of the guardian’s accounts;
- any person convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
- an alien disqualified to adopt according to the laws of the alien’s own country or one whose government the Republic of the Philippines has broken diplomatic relations with; and
- an alien whose government or place of resident abroad has no agency that can provide competent professional evaluation (homestudy) of the adoptive family and post-placement services to the child and the family.
Joint Adoption and Spousal Conditions
- Article 29 allows husband and wife to jointly adopt.
- Article 29 provides that when spouses jointly adopt, parental authority is exercised as if the child were their own by nature.
- Article 29 provides a condition for mixed nationality: if one spouse is an alien, both husband and wife shall jointly; otherwise, adoption is not allowed.
Required Consent for Adoption
- Article 31 requires written consent to adoption from the following:
- the person to be adopted if fourteen years of age or over;
- the natural parents of the child or the child’s legal guardian after receiving counseling and appropriate social services from the Ministry of Social Services and Development or from a duly licensed child-placement agency;
- the Ministry of Social Services and Development or any duly licensed child-placement agency under whose care and legal custody the child may be; and
- the natural children of the adopting parents who are fourteen years and above.
Case Study and Inter-Study Recommendation
- Article 33 provides that no petition for adoption shall be granted unless the Ministry of Social Services and Development has made a case study of:
- the child to be adopted;
- the child’s natural parents; and
- the prospective adopting parents.
- Article 33 requires submission of the ministry’s report and recommendations to the court hearing the petition.
- Article 33 directs the Ministry of Social Services and Development to conduct an inter-study on whether the petition should be denied.
Trial Custody: Minimum Period and Court Power
- Article 35 provides that no petition for adoption shall be finally granted unless and until the adopting parents are given by the court a supervised trial custody period of at least six months.
- Article 35 provides that the purpose of supervised trial custody is to assess the adopting parents’ adjustment and emotional readiness for the legal union.
- Article 35 states that during trial custody, parental authority is vested in the adopting parents.
- Article 35 authorizes the court, on its own motion or on motion of the petitioner, to reduce or dispense with the trial custody period if it finds it is in the best interest of the child.
- Article 35 requires the court to state its reasons for reducing or dispensing with the trial custody period.
- Article 35 provides that an alien not permanently residing in the Philippines adopting a Filipino child must complete the supervised trial custody period to ensure the child’s adjustment to a new family life and culture, save in those cases provided for in Article 27.
Repeal of Inconsistent Rules; Immediate Effect
- Section 3 repeals or modifies all inconsistent laws, orders, issuances, rules, and regulations or parts thereof.
- Section 4 mandates that the Executive Order takes effect immediately.
- The amended adoption rules under Articles 27, 28, 29, 31, 33 and 35 apply as replacements to those articles in Presidential Decree No. 603.