PRRD signs law simplifying adoption process for Filipino children

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MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law to simplify the process of adopting a child for Filipinos.

Republic Act No. 11642, also known as the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, was signed by Duterte on Jan. 6, 2022 and released to reporters on Thursday.

Upon signing RA 11642, Duterte recognizes “the policy of the State to ensure that every child remains under the care and custody of parents and be provided with love, care, understanding, and security towards the full and harmonious development of the child’s personality.”

“The best interest of the child shall be the paramount consideration in the enactment of alternative care, custody, and adoption policies,” the new law read.

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Under the law, the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) will be reorganized to a one-stop quasi-judicial agency on alternative child care known as the National Authority for Child Care (NACC), attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“All duties, functions, and responsibilities of the ICAB, the DSWD, and those of other government agencies relating to alternative child care and adoption are hereby transferred to the NACC,” the law read.

In collaboration with the ICAB and the DSWD, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall develop a cohesive organizational structure with corresponding plantilla positions responsive to fulfill the NACC’s functions and divisions.

According to the law, the NACC shall ensure that the petitions and all other matters involving alternative child care, as well as the issuance of Certificate Declaring a Child Legally Available for Adoption (CDCLAA), and the process of domestic and inter-country adoption, foster care, kinship care, family-like care, or residential care are “simple, expeditious, and inexpensive, and will redound to the best interest of the child involved.”

In addition, the law mandates the creation of a Regional Alternative Child Care Office (RACCO) for each region of the country which will be tasked to make sure a well-functioning system of receipt of local petitions for CDCLAA and adoption, and other requests regarding alternative placement and well-being of children.

It also establishes particular schedules for the NACC, the RACCOs, and other government entities to make decisions on adoption petitions and facilitate documentation.

The NACC’s decision may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within 10 days from the receipt of the Order by the interested party.

In order to protect the welfare of the child to be adopted, the law mandates a home study report or a written report prepared by an adoption social worker relative to the motivation and capacity of the prospective adoptive or foster parents to provide a home that meets the needs of a child.

RA 11642 penalizes exposing the child to be adopted to “danger, abuse, or exploitation” as well as “simulation of birth” or the fictitious registration of the birth of a child under the name of a person who is not the child’s biological parent.

This Act is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 1933 and House Bill No. 8998, which was passed by the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives on Sept. 28, and Sept. 29, 2021, respectively.