Senator Lito Lapid is renewing his call to give legitimate status to a foundling, or a child abandoned by his or her parents or with unknown parents.
Lapid filed Senate Bill No. 56 known as the “Foundling Recognition Act”, Monday.
“A foundling shall be recognized as the legitimate child of the founder from the time of his birth, provided that the foundling has lived and depended with the founder until the foundling reaches the age of majority,” the bill said.
The foundling can be considered a legitimate child of the founder and his or her couple if the one who found the child is married.
“A child of married parents is legitimate while those born out of wedlock are illegitimate. Children of Filipino parents are natural citizens of the Philippines,” Lapid said
Lapid also said that a foundling’s status remains in limbo when they are not yet adopted by our current adoption law.
“But how about infants left to be found in the doors of churches and trash cans, which have been common nowadays? It has been unfair for them to be left to fend for themselves at a very young age, and worse, much of the opportunities related with status may not be available to them,” the senator said.
Senator Grace Poe also used the foundling status in 2016 when her ‘natural born’ citizen was questioned before the Supreme Court.
“The Court relied on the presumption that all foundlings found in the Philippines Re born to at least either a Filipino father or a Filipino mother,” the decision read.
Poe ran and lost in the May 2016 elections and issues about her citizenship hounded her campaign.
“Concluding that foundlings are not natural born Filipino Citizens is tantamount to tell our foundling citizens that they can never be of service to the country,” the SC decision further explained.
