MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives unanimously approved Monday a bill which seeks to grant Filipino citizenship to foundlings, or children whose parents or the circumstances of their birth in the Philippines are unknown.
Section 4 of House Bill No. 7679 declares that “a foundling is a natural-born Filipino citizen regardless of the status or circumstances of birth.”
The bill further states that the natural-born status of foundlings cannot be disputed before any proceeding unless there is substantial proof that they were born of foreign parents.
House Committee on Welfare of Children chairperson Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (Tingog Sinirangan Party-list) said the passage of the bill in the House is a “crucial step towards correcting the injustice against abandoned Filipino children.”
If passed into law, all foundlings, including those who were born before the enactment of the law, would be entitled to a birth certificate instead of a foundling certificate.
“The fact that foundlings are not issued birth certificates has left on them a stigma that they carry all their lives and has resulted even in discrimination, especially when a birth certificate is required when enrolling for school admission, applying for jobs and even in being issued a passport,” Romualdez said.
Before a child is registered as a foundling, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is tasked to find out who its real parents are within 15 days after the submission of the affidavit of the finder or any concerned person.
Should the DSWD fail to locate the parents despite best efforts, it will fill up and submit the application for registration to the local civil registrar which shall issue the birth certificate of the foundling.
An affidavit of the finder, the certification of the barangay captain or police, and the report of the DSWD or its accredited child caring center or licensed and accredited social welfare development authorities should be submitted upon an application for the foundling’s birth certificate.
The proposal also seeks to punish those who use the status of a child as a foundling as a derogatory remark with a fine of P50,000 to P100,000 or imprisonment of one month to one year.
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Discrimination against foundlings, meanwhile, can carry a fine of P200,000 to P1 million or one month to one year in jail.
The bill echoes a 2016 Supreme Court ruling involving Senator Grace Poe which held that foundlings are natural-born citizens. Poe is a foundling herself.