House approves bill recognizing foundlings as natural-born Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives on Monday, October 5, approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) No. 7679, which would immediately recognize foundlings as natural-born Filipino citizens.

The chamber approved the proposed Foundling Welfare Act with 220 votes in favor of its passing.

The Foundling Welfare Act Is intended to protect the rights and welfare of deserted and abandoned children with unknown parents by recognizing them as natural-born Filipino citizens whose citizenship does not need perfection or additional acts.

HB 7679 entitles all foundlings to a Certificate of Live Birth, instead of a Foundling Certificate. It then provides for the procedure for the issuance of a birth certificate to foundlings by the Office of the Civil Registrar under the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

HB 7679 is also retroactive, meaning those who have been issued Foundling Certificates will also be issued Birth Certificates, even when no adoption has yet occurred.

The bill would thus give foundlings all rights entitled to them as Filipinos. These include equal access to government programs and services such as the facilitation of documents for adoption, education, and legal and police protection, as well as basic social services such as education, healthcare and nutrition.

Section 10 of the bill also provides penalizes people who would use the status of a child as foundling in a derogatory manner or would cause dishonor to a foundling as a second-class citizen, as well as discriminating against  foundlings in terms of education, scholarship, practice of profession, and services.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), including all accredited DSWD child-caring centers and licensed and accredited social welfare agencies, are also directed by the measure to look into the facts of birth and the parentage of abandoned children or infants.

A crucial step against injustice

Tingog party-list Representative Yedda Marie K. Romualdez called the approval of the act “a crucial step towards correcting the injustice against abandoned Filipino children.”

“This proposed measure seeks to assert that the most vulnerable among us deserve our respect, care and empathy. It intends to protect and uphold the rights of children regardless of the status of their birth and whether or not their parentage is known,” Romualdez added.

The bill was principally filed by Ang Probinsiyano party-list Rep. Ronnie Ong, and approved by the House Committee on the Welfare of Children, which is chaired by Romualdez.

The House approved the bill on second reading last September 28. 

The Senate, meanwhile has the Foundling Recognition Act filed by Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid, which remains pending in the committee as of July 23, 2019.

Should the Foundling Recognition Act pass on its third reading in the Senate, and there are conflicting provisions between the House and Senate versions, a Bicameral Conference Committee is held to reconcile conflicts in the provisions.

If there are no conflicts, it can be printed as a final form for submission to Malacañang. There, the President can either sign it into law, or veto it and send it back to the Senate with a veto message. – Rappler.com