Press Release
July 3, 2019

LAPID PUSHES TO RECOGNIZE FOUNDLINGS AS NATURAL-BORN CITIZENS AND LEGITIMATE CHILDREN

Senator Manuel "Lito" Lapid seeks to grant legal recognition and natural-born status to foundlings and abandoned children with no known parents.

"Binibigyang estado ng panukalang batas na ito na maging natural-born Filipino citizen ang isang batang napulot lang na hindi alam ang pagkakakilanlan ng magulang," Lapid said.

The senator has refiled Senate Bill No. 56, otherwise known as the "Foundling Recognition Act" which he previously filed in 2015. The said bill is part of his priority bills, or the first 10 bills that he filed on the first day of the 18th Congress.

"Paano na lamang ang batang iniwan at natagpuan lamang sa mga pinto ng simbahan at basurahan?" Lapid lamented.

"Sa panukalang ito, ang napulot na bata ay ituturing na anak ng sinumang nakapulot sa kanya," he said.

Currently, the citizenship and legitimacy of foundlings remain in limbo unless they are adopted or naturalized in accordance with the law.

With this, the rights and benefits under the Civil Code, Family Code and other relevant laws are unavailable to them just because their nationality and legitimacy remain undetermined.

To fill this gap and correct the inequities under existing laws, Lapid is pushing to give legitimate and natural-born status to the foundling, provided that the he/she has lived and depended with the founder until reaching the age of 18, and given that the founder and the foundling has made known themselves to be parent and child to their community.

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