Republic of the Philippines

First Judicial Region

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
Branch 9
Family Court for Benguet Province
La Trinidad Benguet

IN THE MATTER OF THE

ADOPTION OF MINOR
THALIA REYES SANTOS

SPOUSES JEFTI RAMOS CRUZ

AND MARIMAR REYES CRUZ, Spec. Pro. No.: 123
Pe
titioners,

-versus- For:

Adoption
OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL
CIVIL REGISTRAR OF LA
TRINIDAD, BENGUET AND
THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS
AUTHORITY (PSA),
Re
spondents.
x------------------------------------------x

COMMENT
THE OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL, by and through the
undersigned Prosecutor and unto this honorable Court, most respectfully
states that it has no objection to the exhibits formally offered by the
petitioner.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, this 11th day of March 2022 in La

Trinidad, Benguet.

Sharlyn Gados
Prosecutor
Office of the City Prosecutor

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 La Trinidad, Benguet
MCLE COCVII No. 123456

THE CLERK OF COURT

RTC-BRANCH
La Trinidad, Benguet

Greetings,

Please submit the foregoing comment for the consideration of the

Honorable Court upon receipt hereof.

Sharlyn Gados
Prosecutor

Copy Furnished:

Shanghai Quitor
Counsel for the Petitioners

2
 Republic of the Philippines
First Judicial Region
REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
Branch 9
Family Court for Benguet Province
La Trinidad Benguet

IN THE MATTER OF THE

ADOPTION OF MINOR
THALIA REYES SANTOS

SPOUSES JEFTI RAMOS CRUZ

AND MARIMAR REYES CRUZ, Spec. Pro. No.: 123
Pe
titioners,

-versus- For:

Adoption
OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL
CIVIL REGISTRAR OF LA
TRINIDAD, BENGUET AND
THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS
AUTHORITY (PSA),
Re
spondents.
x------------------------------------------x

DECISION
The Facts:

Petitioners, Jefti and Marimar Cruz desire to jointly adopt Thalia

Reyes Santos, the legitimate daughter of Marimar Reyes Cruz with her
former live-in partner Arvin Santos.

From the time the spouses Jefti and Marimar Cruz got married, the
former has been the father figure to Thalia. Jefti takes care of the family by
providing their needs. He believes that adopting Thalia would be for her best
interest for she will also enjoy all the successional rights entitled to a
legitimate child. He treats Thalia as his own child and make her feel that she
is part of the family.

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 Arvin Santos, the biological father of the adoptee has consented to
the spouses taking care of his child and even executed an affidavit of consent
for the adoption of Thalia Reyes Santos by the Spouses Cruz. He also
executed his Judicial Affidavit to show that he is willing to have the Spouses
Cruz adopt his child Thalia Reyes Cruz and he is aware of corresponding
legal effects that if the petition for adoption will be approved, Thalia shall
use the surname of petitioner Jefti Cruz and his parental authority will be
terminated and shall be vested to the petitioners. In his judicial affidavit,
Arvin also acknowledged that Jefti Cruz seems to be kind and better than
him.

Jovencio Caleño, the Social Worker, submitted a Home Study Report,

after conducting an investigation to see the viability of the adoption. In his
report, he has stated that based on his investigation, he strongly recommends
the grant of legal adoption to the Spouses Jefti and Marimar Cruz for the
best welfare and interest of adoptee, Thalia Reyes Cruz.

Legal Basis

It is a declared policy of the State to ensure that every child remains

under the care and custody of his/her parent(s) and be provided with love,
care, understanding and security towards the full and harmonious
development of his/her personality. Only when such efforts prove
insufficient and no appropriate placement or adoption within the child’s
extended family is available shall adoption by an unrelated person be
considered.

Adoption, as a privilege granted by law, can be exercised by any

person of age and in full possession of his civil rights.
Republic Act No. 8552, or otherwise known as the Domestic Adoption Act
of 1998 (“RA 8552”) establishes the rules and policies on the domestic
adoption of Filipino children. Under the Rule on Adoption any Filipino with
the following qualifications are able to adopt: (a) legal age; (b) in possession
of full civil capacity and legal rights; (c) of good moral character: (d) has not
been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude; (e) emotionally and
psychologically capable of caring for children; (f) at least 16 years older
than the adoptee, except that the requirement of a 16-year difference
between the age of the adopter and adoptee may be waived when the adopter
is the biological parent of the adoptee or is the spouse of the adoptee’s
parent; and (g) in a position to support and care for his children in keeping
with the means of the family.

Adoption is defined as the process of making a child, whether related

or not to the adopter, possess in general, the rights accorded to a legitimate

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child.1 It is a juridical act, a proceeding in rem which creates between two
persons a relationship similar to that which results from legitimate paternity
and filiation.2 The modern trend is to consider adoption not merely as an act
to establish a relationship of paternity and filiation, but also as an act which
endows the child with a legitimate status.3

Adoption may be considered a process "to take into one's family

through legal means and raised as one's own child".4

Adoption is also defined as "a judicial act which creates between two
persons a relationship similar to that which results from legitimate paternity
and filiation"5

Rule 1 of OCRG Circular No. 90-2 dated 28 March 1990 likewise

define Adoption as a legal process pursuant to P.D. No. 603, as amended by
Executive Order No. 209 (Family Code of the Philippines) in which a child's
legal right and duties toward his natural parents are terminated and similar
rights and duties toward his adoptive parents are substituted.

Adoption is always a juridical act (Lazatin v. Campos, 92 SCRA 250)

and it cannot be granted administratively. And because there can be no valid
adoption without a court decree granting the same, a mere agreement of
adoption between the adopters and the parents of the child is not a valid
adoption (Ynigo v. Republic, 95 Phil. 244), nor the mere fact that the child
has lived with the alleged adopter who had treated him like his own child
sufficient to establish a valid adoption between the alleged adopter and the
child (Lazatin v. Campos, 92 SCRA 250).

As stated in the Rules on Adoption, the following may be adopted: (a)

any person below 18 years of age who has been voluntarily committed to the
Department under Articles 154, 155, and 156 of P.D. No. 603 or judicially
declared available for adoption; (b) the legitimate child of one spouse, by the
other spouse; (c) an illegitimate child, by a qualified adopter to raise the
status of the former to that of legitimacy; (d) a person of legal age regardless
of civil status, if, prior to the adoption, said person has been consistently
considered and treated by the adopters as their own child since minority; (e)
a child whose adoption has been previously rescinded; or (f) a child whose
biological or adoptive parents have died provided that no proceedings shall
be initiated within 6 months from the time of death of said parents; and (g) a
child not otherwise disqualified by law or these rules.

1
Paras, Civil Code of the Philippines Annotated, Vol. I, Fifteenth Edition, 2002, p. 685.
2
Pineda, The Family Code of the Philippines Annotated, 1989 Edition, p. 272-273, citing 4 Valverde, 473.
3
Paras, supra, citing Prasnick v. Republic, 98 Phil. 665.
4
The Groiler International Dictionary, vol. 1, 1981 : Houghton Mifflin Company
5
A Valverde 473, quoted in Prasnick vs. Rep. of the Phil. 665. Civil Law Reviewer by Desiderio P. Jurado,
1882 Twelfth Edition with Supplement published by National Book Store, Inc.

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The Court’s Evaluation and Resolution

In this case, the petitioners have sufficiently proved that they are more
than qualified to adopt Thalia Reyes Cruz. They have properly complied
with the requirements of the law on adoption and have been able to attach to
their petition all necessary documents to prove that they are qualified to
adopt a child and that they are aware of all corresponding legal effects of
adoption.

Petitioners have attached the Birth Certificate of the child marked as

Exhibit “E” and the biological father’s Affidavit of Consent marked as
Exhibit “F” to prove that Thalia Reyes Cruz, the adoptee can be legally
adopted and that there are no impediments to the adoption of the adoptee.
The petitioners likewise attached reports conducted by the social worker of
the PSWDO- Benguet, particularly a) Adoption Home Study Report marked
as Exhibit “O” to prove that petitioners have all the qualifications and none
of the disqualifications to adopt minor Thalia Santos; and b) Adoption Child
Study Report marked as Exhibit “P” to prove that based on the findings, it is
recommended unto the Honorable Court the approval of the said adoption
for the best interest and welfare of the subject child since she is much very
qualified to be adopted.

It is undisputed that since the day the petitioners got married, Jefti has
been a father figure to thalia and that the petitioners have supported and
cared for the adoptee. Jefti treated the adoptee as his own daughter even
before the filing of the petition for adoption with this court. Moreover, Arvin
Santos, the biological father of Thalia acknowledged that the grant of
adoption would be for the best interest of his daughter.

Lastly, the Social Worker was presented to prove that the granting of
this petition for adoption is in the best interest of the adoptee. The Social
Worker, after careful and thorough study of the petitioners and the adoptee
found that the petitioners possess all qualifications of a prospective adopter.

The petitioners convincingly showed this court that they are fully
capable of becoming the legal parents of the adoptee, Thalia Reyes Cruz and
that they fully understand the consequences of adopting her. Arvin Santos
has also given his consent and he also manifested that he is fully aware of
the legal consequences of allowing his daughter, Thalia to be adopted by the
petitioners.

This court finds no reason to deny the petition since all the
requirements of adoption has been fully complied with.

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 WHEREFORE, premises considered, petition for adoption of Thalia
Reyes Cruz is GRANTED.

Upon finality of this decision, let the same be entered in the Office of
the Municipal Civil Registrar of La Trinidad, Benguet and the Philippine
Statistics Authority.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Done in chambers, this 17th day of March 2022, at the Hall of Justice, La
Trinidad, Benguet.

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PRACTICE COURT 2
Special Proceedings Group
Friday 6PM – 8 PM

ABES, Nestor Jr.

DALLY, Sheryl
DAKIWAS, Chery
GOMEYAC, Lourdes
ROSARIO, Leah
SAFANGAN, Glaiza

Submitted to:
Pros. Benedict Patara