ADOPTATION

DOMESTIC AND INTER COUNTRY ADOPTATION.

 DEFINITION OF ADAPTATION
 Adoption is a juridical act which creates between two persons, a relationship similar to that
which results from legitimate paternity. (Prasnick vs. Republic, 98 Phil. 669).

 Adoption is juridical act, a proceeding in rem, which creates between the two persons a
relationship similar to that which results from legitimate paternity filiation.

 It is not an adversarial proceeding, An adversarial proceeding is one having opposing parties,

contested, as distinguished from an ex parte application, one of which the party seeking relief
has given legal warning to the other party and afforded the latter an opportunity to contest it
excludes an adoption proceeding. In adoption, there is no particular defendant to speak of
since the proceeding involved the status of a person it being an action in rem.
INTER COUNTRY ADOPTION
 It refers to the socio-legal process of adopting a Filipino child by a foreigner or a Filipino
citizen permanently residing abroad where the petition is filed, the supervised trial custody is
undertaken, and the decree of adoption is issued in the Philippines. (Section 3 (a), RA 8043).
 Under Republic Act (RA) No. 8043, otherwise known as the Inter-Country Adoption Act, any qualified
foreign national or Filipino citizen permanently residing abroad desiring to adopt a Filipino child need
not go to the Philippines to apply for adoption.
 The applicant may file the application with the Inter-Country Adoption Board (“ICAB”) through the
Central Authority or an accredited Foreign Adoption Agency (FAA) in the country where he/she resides.
 If the applicant is in the Philippines, the application may also filed with the Philippine Regional Trial
Court having jurisdiction over the child. For purposes of inter-country adoption, any child who has been
voluntarily or involuntarily committed to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (“DSWD”)
as dependent, abandoned or neglected, may be adopted.
 Prior to adoption, and in order to ensure a mutually satisfying parent-child relationship, a matching conference
will be carried out where the children available for adoption will be judiciously paired with the applicants.
 The applicants cannot directly engage in any matching arrangement with a particular child’s parents/guardians, as
all matching processes should be conducted and approved by the ICAB. After matching, there will be trial custody
where the child will be physically transferred to the adopters. Once all the travel documents of the child are
ready, the adoptive parents, or any one of them, shall personally fetch the child in the Philippines.
 In such a case, the adopters must pay the expenses incidental to the pre-adoptive placement of the child,
including the cost of the child’s travel, medical and psychological evaluation and other related expenses. The trial
custody is for a period of six (6) months from the time of placement.
 The ICAB will then look for a suitable family with whom to place the child. If it is unable to find a suitable
replacement family for the child, the ICAB, as a last resort, should arrange for the child’s repatriation. It is the
current prospective adoptive parents who should shoulder the cost of the child’s repatriation.
 On the other hand, if a satisfactory relationship is formed between the applicant/s and the child after the lapse of
the period of trial custody, the applicant/s may then file the appropriate petition for the adoption of the child
either with a regional trial court in the Philippines or through the Central Authority or an accredited FAA in the
country where he/she resides.
 A decree of adoption will thereafter be issued. If adoption is effected in any manner contrary to RA No. 8043, any
person who knowingly participated therein will be penalized. After all, it is compliance with the law that will serve
the best interests of the child.
RA 8552
 RA 8043 That governs the provision on adaptation from Articles 183 – 193 of the Family
Code have been repealed and replaced by R.A. No. 8552 approved by President Fidel V.
Ramos on February 25, 1998. The said law is entitled “An act establishing the rules and
policies on the domestic adoption of Filipino Children and for Other Purposes.”

 Article 1, Section 1 of RA 8552 provide a short title for the that states “ This Act shall be
known as the Domestic Adoption Act of 1998”.
 DISTINCTION BETWEEN
DOMESTIC AND INTER –
COUNTRY ADOPTION INTER-COUNTRY
DOMESTIC

 Governed by RA 8043, the Inter-

 Governed by RA 8552, the Country Adoption Act of 1995;
Domestic Adoption Act of 1998; procedure governed by the
procedure governed by AM No. Amended Implementing Rules
02-06-02-SC, August 22, 2022. and Regulations on ICAA