Policy and child-protection purpose
- The Act declares the State policy that alternative protection and assistance must be afforded to every child who is abandoned, surrendered, or neglected (Sec. 1).
- Assistance must be extended in the most expeditious manner in the interest of the child’s full emotional and social development (Sec. 1).
- The Act recognizes that DSWD administrative processes for declaring a child legally available for adoption are the most expeditious proceedings for the child’s best interest and welfare (Sec. 1).
Key definitions and meanings
- DSWD is the agency charged to implement the Act and has sole authority to issue the certification declaring a child legally available for adoption (Sec. 2).
- A Child is a person below eighteen (18) years of age, or a person over eighteen (18) years of age who is unable to fully take care of himself/herself or protect himself/herself from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because of physical or mental disability or condition (Sec. 2).
- An Abandoned Child is a child who has no proper parental care or guardianship, or whose parent(s) have deserted him/her for at least three (3) continuous months, which includes a founding (Sec. 2).
- A Neglected Child is a child whose basic needs have been deliberately unattended or inadequately attended within three (3) continuous months; neglect may be physical neglect or emotional neglect (Sec. 2).
- Child Legally Available for Adoption refers to a child in whose favor a DSWD certification was issued after abandonment or neglect has been proven through pertinent documents, or a child who was voluntarily committed by parent(s)/legal guardian (Sec. 2).
- A Voluntarily Committed Child is one whose parent(s) or legal guardian knowingly and willingly relinquished parental authority to the DSWD or to any duly accredited child-placement or child-caring agency or institution (Sec. 2).
- Child-caring agency or institution refers to a private non-profit or government agency accredited by the DSWD providing twenty-four (24) hour residential care services for abandoned, neglected, or voluntarily committed children (Sec. 2).
- Child-placing agency or institution refers to a private non-profit institution or government agency accredited by the DSWD that receives and processes applicants to become foster or adoptive parents and facilitates placement of children eligible for foster care or adoption (Sec. 2).
- A Petitioner is the head or executive director of a licensed/accredited child-caring or child-placing agency/institution managed by government, LGU, NGO, or a provincial/city/municipal Social Welfare Development Officer who has actual custody of the minor and files the certification; where the child is under the custody of another individual, the agency/institution acts with the consent of the child’s custodian (Sec. 2).
- Secretary refers to the Secretary of the DSWD or the Secretary’s duly authorized representative (Sec. 2).
- Conspicuous Place is a place frequented by the public where notice of the petition is posted for information of interested persons (Sec. 2).
- Social Case Study Report (SCSR) is a written report by a licensed social worker stating the social-cultural economic condition, psychosocial background, current functioning, facts of abandonment or neglect, and the efforts to locate biological parents/relatives (Sec. 2).
Required petition and supporting documents
- The petition must be an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before a person authorized by law to administer oaths, containing facts necessary to establish the merits and the circumstances surrounding abandonment or neglect (Sec. 3).
- The petition must be supported by an SCSR made by the DSWD, LGU, or a licensed or accredited child-caring or child-placing agency/institution charged with custody of the child (Sec. 3).
- The petition must include proof that efforts were made to locate the parent(s) or known relatives; the Act prescribes sufficient proof through any of the following:
- Written certification from a local or national radio or television station that the case was aired on three (3) different occasions (Sec. 3).
- Publication in one (1) newspaper of general circulation (Sec. 3).
- A police report or barangay certification from the locality where the child was found, or a certified copy of a tracing report issued by the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), National Headquarters (NHQ), Social Service Division, stating that despite due diligence the child’s parents could not be found (Sec. 3).
- Returned registered mail to the last known address of the parent(s) or known relatives, if any (Sec. 3).
- The petition must include the child’s birth certificate if available (Sec. 3).
- The petition must include a recent photograph of the child and a photograph of the child upon abandonment or admission to the agency/institution (Sec. 3).
Filing location and posting requirements
- The petition must be filed in the regional office of the DSWD where the child was found or abandoned (Sec. 4).
- The Regional Director must examine the petition and supporting documents for sufficiency in form and substance and must authorize the posting of the notice of the petition in a conspicuous place for five (5) consecutive days in the locality where the child was found (Sec. 4).
- After posting, the Regional Director must render a recommendation not later than five (5) working days after completion of the posting (Sec. 4).
- The Regional Director must transmit a copy of the recommendation and records to the Office of the Secretary within forty-eight (48) hours from the date of the recommendation (Sec. 4).
Secretary certification and civil-registry effect
- If the petition has merit, the Secretary must issue a certification declaring the child legally available for adoption within seven (7) working days from receipt of the recommendation (Sec. 5).
- The certification alone is the sole basis for the immediate issuance by the local civil registrar of a foundling certificate (Sec. 5).
- Within seven (7) working days, the local civil registrar must transmit the foundling certificate to the National Statistics Office (NSO) (Sec. 5).
Appeals and finality
- The Secretary’s decision is appealable to the Court of Appeals within five (5) days from receipt of the decision by the petitioner (Sec. 6).
- If no appeal is filed within five (5) days, the decision becomes final and executory (Sec. 6).
Special rules: involuntary and voluntary commitments
- For an involuntarily committed child under Article 141, paragraph 4(a) and Article 142 of Presidential Decree No. 603, the certification declaring the child legally available for adoption must be issued by the DSWD within three (3) months following such involuntary commitment (Sec. 7).
- For a voluntary commitment under Article 154 of Presidential Decree No. 603, the Secretary must issue the certification within three (3) months following the filing of the Deed of Voluntary Commitment, signed by the parent(s) with the DSWD (Sec. 7).
- Upon petition filed with the DSWD, parent(s) or legal guardian may recover legal custody and parental authority over the child from the agency/institution of voluntary commitment when the DSWD is satisfied that the parent(s)/legal guardian is in a position to adequately provide for the child’s needs (Sec. 7).
- The petition for restoration must be filed within 3 months after the signing of the Deed of Voluntary Commitment (Sec. 7).
Administrative nature and evidentiary role
- The certification declaring a child legally available for adoption must be issued by the DSWD in lieu of a judicial order, making the process administrative (Sec. 8).
- The certification is the primary evidence that the child is legally available in both:
- Domestic adoption proceedings under Republic Act No. 8552, and
- Inter-country adoption proceedings under Republic Act No. 8043 (Sec. 8).
Implementing rules and transitional filing
- The DSWD, together with the Council for Welfare of Children, the Inter-Country Adoption Board, two (2) representatives from licensed or accredited child-placing and child-caring agencies or institutions, the National Statistics Office, and the Office of the Civil Registrar, must draft the implementing rules and regulations within sixty (60) days following complete publication (Sec. 9).
- Pending completion of the implementing rules and regulations, petitions for issuance of the certification may be filed with the regional office of the DSWD where the child was found or abandoned (Sec. 9).
Penalties and license consequences
- A penalty of PHP 100,000 to PHP 200,000 applies to any person, institution, or agency that places a child for adoption without the DSWD certification that the child is legally available for adoption (Sec. 10).
- Any agency or institution found violating the Act must have its license to operate revoked, without prejudice to criminal prosecution of its officers and employees (Sec. 10).
- Violations subject the concerned government official or employee to appropriate administrative, civil and/or criminal sanctions, including suspension and/or dismissal and forfeiture of benefits (Sec. 10).
Repeal and separability
- Sections 2(c)(iii), 3(b), (e) and 8(a) of Republic Act No. 8552, Section 3(f) of Republic Act No. 8043, Chapter 1 of Title VII and VIII of Presidential Decree No. 603, and any law, presidential decree, executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule, or regulation contrary to or inconsistent with the Act are repealed, modified, or amended accordingly (Sec. 11).
- If any provision of the Act is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions remain valid and subsisting (Sec. 12).