Answer
Since Republic Act No. 11642 (the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act) took effect in 2022, domestic adoption in the Philippines is an administrative process before the National Authority for Child Care (NACC), not a court case. RA 11642 replaced the earlier judicial adoption process under RA 8552. An adopter must generally be at least twenty-five years old, of full legal capacity and good moral character, and at least sixteen years older than the child — a gap that may be waived, for example where the adopter is the child's biological parent or the spouse of the biological parent.
The child to be adopted must, as a rule, have a Certificate Declaring a Child Legally Available for Adoption, though the law also covers the adoption of a spouse's child, a relative, a foster child, or an adult who was treated as one's own child. The administrative process is designed to be simpler and faster than the old court procedure.
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