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on the application. Foreigners must meet the following conditions under Philippine adoption law: (1)
the PAP must be a resident of the Philippines for at least three (3) years prior to the filing of the
petition and should be able to maintain such residence until the adoption decree is granted by the
court; and (2) submit a certification of legal capacity to adopt issued by the appropriate government
agency from the state of residence.
The Philippine government may however waive the foregoing requirements if it is shown that the
PAP is: (1) a former Filipino citizen seeking to adopt a relative within the fourth degree of
consanguinity, as defined under Philippine law; or (2) one seeking to adopt the legitimate
son/daughter of his/her Filipino spouse; or (3) married to a Filipino and who seeks to adopt jointly
with his/her spouse a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity, as defined under Philippine
law.
Problem Areas
Trial custody of the child commences upon the physical transfer of the child to the applicant who, as
custodian, shall exercise substitute parental authority over the child. Trial custody is supervised by
the Central Authority and/or Foreign Adoption Agency (FAA) concerned. Regular reports on the
child's health, psycho-social adjustment, and relationship with the applicants shall be furnished by
the FAA to the ICAB. If the child suffers abuse or injury from the PAP or other household members of
the adoptive family, the Central Authority or the FAA is mandated to step in and protect the child. It
may do so by withdrawing the child from and terminating the trial custody.
Recent Developments
A recent study conducted by the ICAB on the number of children cleared for inter-country adoption
vis--vis the number of prospective adoptive families revealed a glaring disproportion between the
number of children against a long list of prospective adoptive families, resulting in a protracted
waiting period for child placement. This prompted the ICAB to temporarily suspend the acceptance
of additional adoption applications from FAAs. The temporary suspension as enunciated in the ICAB
Resolution issued on December 9, 2010 however, only applies to FAAs which have sent ten (10) or
more applications per year for the last three (3) years (2008-2010). The FAAs affected by this new
policy shall be required to temporarily refrain from sending additional applications until the waiting
period for applicant families have decreased for the next two (2) years.