Lowering age of majority to 18 years

Section 1 amends Article 234 of Executive Order No. 209 (Family Code of the Philippines).
Section 2 repeals Articles 235 and 237 of Executive Order No. 209.
Section 3 amends Article 236 of Executive Order No. 209.
Republic Act No. 6809 is enacted to lower the age of majority from twenty-one (21) to eighteen (18).

Republic Act No. 6809 establishes that emancipation takes place by the attainment of majority at the age of eighteen years.
Republic Act No. 6809 provides the legal effects of emancipation on parental authority and civil responsibility.
Republic Act No. 6809 preserves parental and guardian duties for children and wards below twenty-one (21) years of age in specified situations.

Article 234 (as amended by Section 1) provides that emancipation occurs upon the attainment of majority.
Article 234 (as amended) states that majority commences at the age of eighteen years unless otherwise provided.
Republic Act No. 6809 makes eighteen years the general starting point for majority and its legal consequences.

Article 236 (as amended by Section 3) states that emancipation terminates parental authority over the person and property of the child.
Article 236 (as amended) provides that emancipation applies to the child who shall then be qualified and responsible for all acts of civil life, subject to stated exceptions under existing laws in special cases.
Article 236 (as amended) preserves parental responsibility by stating that nothing in the Family Code shall be construed to derogate from the duty or responsibility of parents and guardians for children and wards below twenty-one (21) years of age mentioned in the second and third paragraphs of Article 2180 of the Civil Code.
Article 236 (as amended) creates a marriage-related consent rule: contracting marriage requires parental consent until the age of twenty-one.

Article 236 (as amended by Section 3) requires parental consent for contracting marriage until the age of twenty-one (21).
Article 236 (as amended) treats this consent requirement as a rule that continues despite the lowered general age of majority at eighteen (18).

Section 4 provides that upon the effectivity of Republic Act No. 6809, existing wills, bequests, donations, grants, insurance policies, and similar instruments that contain references and provisions favorable to minors will not retroact to their prejudice.
Section 4 bars retroactive application that would prejudice minors with respect to qualifying existing instruments.

Section 5 sets the effectivity condition as completion of publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Republic Act No. 6809 is expressly approved on December 13, 1989, and it amends and repeals specific Family Code articles to implement the lowered age of majority.