📋 Tender Overview
The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that a certification declaring a child legally available for adoption is required even when the child is voluntarily surrendered by the mother.In a Decision written by Associate Justice Japar B. Dimaampao, the SCs Third Division upheld the Regional Trial Court (RTC)s dismissal of an adoption petition because it did not include a certification from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).The case began when a mother, soon after giving birth, left her baby in the care of Eleazar Robiso (Robiso) and his parents. A year later, Robiso filed a petition for adoption before the RTC.To support his petition, Robiso submitted an executed by the mother. In the affidavit, the mother said she could not financially support her child. She entrusted the child and her parental authority to Robiso.The RTC dismissed the petition, ruling that the child was a surrendered child, and that a DSWD certification declaring the child legally available for adoption is required under Republic Act No. (RA) 9523.Robiso challenged this before the Court of Appeals, which also dismissed his petition.Before the SC, Robiso argued that the certification was required only for abandoned, neglected, or voluntarily committed children.The SC disagreed. It ruled that the certification requirement also covers surrendered children.In adoption cases, RA 9523 requires a DSWD certification declaring a child legally available for adoption. The laws implementing rules clarified that the requirement applies to surrendered, abandoned, neglected, and dependent children.Although the law does not define a , it defines a as one whose parents or legal guardian knowingly and willingly give up parental authority to the DSWD or an accredited child-placement or child-caring agency. The laws implementing rules adopt the same definition for a surrendered child.The SC added that the law should be read together with Article 154 of Presidential Decree No. 603 or the , which treats a child surrendered to an individual as a voluntarily committed child.
