FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
SENATE 
S.B. No. lOBO 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill seeks to strengthen and propagate foster care for abused, abandoned, 
neglected and other children with special needs so that they will be provided with 
alternative family care. 
It cannot be denied that in our society, there are individuals and families in crisis 
situations. While indeed parents are responsible for providing their children with the 
proper environment for them to grow up as uprigh(individuals and responsible citizens, 
those placed in crisis situations could not and fail to fulfill this responsibility, thus giving 
rise to abandoned and neglected children. The situation is worse for abused who are 
physically and/or sexually abused. Only timely and proper social intervention can 
address the problem and here, foster caring is a strong alternative. 
This bill then seeks to provide a comprehensive legal framework within 
which the welfare and interests of those needing foster care and those who can 
provide it can be harmonized. This is to give flesh to the Constitutional mandate 
for the State to provide social protection to children and youth. 
In view of the foregoing premises, approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
SENYUBO 
S, B, No, _"'-=--=--
INTRODUCED BY SEN, MANNY VILLAR 
1:;;f\\i /\'"rf 
O~!CE f1~;;'('RH"'RY 
AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN AND PROPAGATE FOSTER CARE FOR 
ABUSED, ABANDONED, NEGLECTED AND OTHER CHILDREN WITH 
SPECIAL NEEDS, PROVIDING APPROPRIATIONS THEREFOR AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled: 
ARTICLE I 
PRELIMINARIES 
SECTION 1. Title, -This Act shall be known ?s the "Foster Care Act" 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy, -- Article XV of the Constitution provides that 
the State shall defend the right of children to assistance, including proper care and 
nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation 
and other conditions prejudicial to their development. 
It is hereby declared the policy of the State to provide every child who is abused 
neglected, surrendered, dependent, abandoned, \,mder socio-cultural difficulties and 
with special needs with an alternative family that will provide love and care as well as 
opportunities for growth and development 
The State shall guarantee that all the rights of the child enumerated under Article 
3 of Presidential Decree No, 603, otherwise known as "The Child and Youth Welfare 
Code", as amended, and the rights found under Article 20 of the United nations 
Convention on the Rights of the Child, shall be observed. 
Towards this end, the State shall systematize and enhance foster care program 
in the country, It shall ensure that the foster family shall provide a wholesome 
atmosphere to the foster child, 
The State shall also protect the rights of the biological child of the foster family 
and ensure that in no case shall he/she be disadvantaged as a result of the placement 
of a foster child. 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - For purp'oses of this Act, the following 
terms are defined as: 
a) "Agency" refers to any child-caring or child-placing institution licensed and 
accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to 
implement the foster care program. 
. 
b) "Child" refers to a person below eighteen (18) years of age, or one who is over 
but is unable to fully take care of or protect himself/herself from abuse, neglect, 
cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or 
condition, 


c) "Child Case Study Report" refers to a written report prepared by a social 
worker containing all the necessary information on a child. 
d) "Child with special needs" refers to a child with developmental and/or physical 
disability. 
e) "Foster Care" refers to the provision of planned temporary substitute parental 
care to a child by a foster parent. 
f) 
"Foster Child" refers to a child placed under \oster care. 
g) "Foster Family Care License" refers to the document issued by the DSWD, 
authorizing the foster parent to provide foster care. 
h) "Foster Parent" refers to a person duly licensed by the DSWD to provide foster 
care to a child. 
i) 
"Foster Placement Authority" refers to the document issued by the DSWD, 
authorizing the placement of a particular child with a foster parent. 
j) 
"Home Study Report" refers to a written report prepared by a social worker 
containing the necessary information on a prospective foster parenti family 
member. 
k) "Matching" refers to the judicious pairing of a. child with foster parents and 
family members based on the capacity and c,ommitment of the foster parents to 
meet the individual needs of the child and the capacity of the child to benefit from 
the placement. 
I) 
"Parents" refers to the biological or adoptive parents or guardians. 
m) "Placement" refers to the physical transfer of the child to the foster parent. 
n) "Social Worker" refers to the registered and licensed social worker of the DSWD, 
Local Government Unit (LGU), or agency. 
ARTICLE II 
ELIGIBILITY 
SECTION 4. Who May Be Placed Under Foster Care. A child may be placed 
under foster care if he/she is in need of special protection, as assessed by a social 
worker, due, but not limited to, any of the following circumstances: 
a) Child who is abandoned, surrendered, negleCted, dependent or orphaned; 
b) Child who is a victim of sexual, physical, or any other form of abuse or 
exploitation; 
c) Child with special needs; 
d) Child whose parents are temporarily or permanently unable to provide him/her 
with adequate care; 
e) Child awaiting adoptive placement and would have to be prepared for family life; 
f) Child who needs long-term care and close family ties but who cannot be placed 
for adoption; 
g) Child whose adoption has been disrupted; 
h) Child under socio-Iegal difficulties, such as, but not limited to, street child, child in 
armed conflict, one who is a victim of child labor or trafficking, and child whose 
family and/or himself/herself is affected by HIV/AIDS; and 
i) 
Child who has committed a minor offense but has been released on 
recognizance or on custody supervision or, his/her case dismissed but whose 
family or relatives are not capable of providing him/her care. 
SECTION 5. Who May Be a Foster Care: - Any applicant who meets all the following 
qualifications may be a foster parent: 
a) Must be of legal age; 
b) Must have a genuine interest, capacity, and:commitment in parenting to be able 
to provide a family atmosphere for the child; 
c) Must have a healthy and harmonious relationship with each family member; 
d) Must have good moral character; 
e) Must be physically and mentally capable and emotionally mature; 
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f) Must have sufficient resources to provide for the family's needs; and 
g) Must be willing to be trained to further hone his/her knowledge, attitudes and 
skills in caring for a child. 
The relatives of the child shall be given priority to be the foster parents. An alien 
possessing the above-stated qualifications and has resided in the Philippines for at least 
six (6) continuous months and will continue to stay in the country for the duration of the 
foster placement may qualify as a foster parent. 
. 
ARTICLE III 
PROCEDURE 
SECTION 6. Recruitment and Development of Poster Parent. Social workers 
shall reach out to communities to recruit and develop applicants for foster care. 
SECTION 7. Issuance of License. - The DSWD shall issue a license to 
applicant foster parents after determining their motivation, capacities and potentials for 
development on the basis of a home study report submitted by an agency or Local 
government unit (LGU) concerned. The licensed is. renewable unless earlier revoked by 
the DSWD. 
SECTION 8. Matching. - Matching shall b~ done by the agency/ies or LGU 
concerned only after the child case study and the home study have been conducted. 
The child case study report shall establish the needs of the child for consideration in the 
selection of the foster parent. Likewise, the home study report shall establish said foster 
parent' capacity and resources to provide a safe, secure and loving home to the child. 
SECTION 9. Placement. - The physical transfer of the child to the foster parent 
shall be allowed only after the Foster Placement Authority has been issued, except in 
emergency cases when the life of the child is in 'danger or at risk due to natural or 
manmade disasters. The DSWD shall issue the Foster Placement Authority within five 
(5) working days from submission of application thereof Otherwise, the application for a 
Foster Placement Authority shall be deemed approved after the lapse of said period 
without express or written denial thereof. 
SECTION 10. Supervision of Foster Placement. --
Supervised Foster 
Placement begins as soon as the foster parent receives the child into his/her care. 
During the foster placement, the social worker sball conduct regular home visits to 
monitor the child's adjustment in the foster home and shall submit progress reports to 
the DSWD. 
. 
In case of injury of death of a foster child or if he/she runs away or gets lost, such 
incident shall be reported immediately to the agency which, in turn, shall report the 
same to the DSWD. 
SECTION 11. Termination of Placement. -- Termination of' placement shall be 
done by the DSWD upon the recommendation of the agency of LGU. 
ARTICLE IV 
ADOPTION OF A FOSTER CHILD 
SECTION 12. Conditions. -- A foster parent may adopt his/her foster child 
through the following conitions: 
a) The foster parent must have all the qualifications as provided for by Republic Act 
No, 8552, otherwise known as the "Domestic Adoption Act of 998", or Republic 
Act No. 8043, Otherwise known as the "Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995", as 
the case may be; 
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b) The foster child has not yet been matched for adoption; 
c) The trial custody, as required in adoption, may be waived by the DSWD; 
Provided, that a harmonious relationship exists between the child and his/her 
foster parents and family members; and 
d) For purposes of this Act, the procedure for adoption shall be governed by 
Republic Act No. 8552 or Republic Act No. 8043, as the case may be. 
ARTICLE V 
ASSISTANCE TO FOSTER PARENTS 
SECTION 13. Foster Child Subsidy. - A foster child shall be given a monthly 
subsidy by the LGU with augmentation from the DSWD. 
SECTION 14. Assistance and Incentives to Foster Parent - Foster parents 
shall be entitled to the following assistance and tax incentives: 
a) Support Care Services - The DSWD, the social service unit of the LGU or the 
agency shall provide support care serviqes to include, but not limited to 
counseling, visits, training on child care and development, respite care, skills 
training and livelihood assistance. 
b) Personal Exemption - For purposes of determining the taxable income of a 
foster parent who is either unmarried, widow/widower or legally separated, a 
foster child shall be treated as a dependent by the said foster parent that would 
qualify him/her as "head of the family" entitled to the personal exemption under 
the provision of Section 3 5(A) of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 
1997, as amended. 
c) Additional Exemption for Dependents - For purposes of claiming the additional 
exemption of foster parentis for each dependent not exceeding four, the 
definition of the term "dependent" under Section 35(8) of the NIRC of 1997 shall 
be amended to include "foster child": Provided, however, that all the other 
conditions provided for under the aforesaid section of the Tax Code are complied 
with. 
The foregoing provIsions to the contrary notwithstanding, for purposes of this 
section, only one foster parent can treat the foster child as dependent for a particular 
taxable year to the exclusion of the parents and other foster parents of the child, if any. 
The DSWD shall issue a tax exemption certificate for this purpose. 
SECTION 15. Incentives to Agency - The agency shall be entitled to the following 
tax incentives: 
a) Exemption from Income Tax - The agency, which must be a DSWD accredited 
non-government organization (NGO), shall.be exempt from income tax on the 
income derived by it as such organization under the provision of Section 30 of 
the Tax Code, as implemented by Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 13-98. 
b) Qualification as a Donee Institution - The agency can also apply for qualification 
as a done institution entitled to receive donations from donors. 
SECTION 16. Incentives to Donor - The donor to an accredited NGO shall be 
entitled to the following: 
a) Full deductibility from the gross income of the donor of the amount donated 
subject to the conditions provided for under Section 34 (1 12c) of the Tax Code 
of 1997, otherwise, the donor shall only be entitled to a limited deduction in an 
amount in excess of ten percent (10%) in the case of an individual engaged in 
business or in the practice of a profession and five percent (5%) in the case of a 
corporation. 
b) Exemption from donor's tax subject to the provisions of Section 01 (A3) and (B2) 
of the Tax Code Provided, that not more than thirty percent (30%) of the amount 
of donations shall be used by such donee for administrative purposes 
4 


ARTICLE VI 
PENALTIES 
SECTION 17. Penalties. - (a) Any person -found to be committing any act of 
neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation or other similar acts prejudicial 10 the foster child's 
development shall be penalized in accordance, with Republic Act No. 7610, as 
amended, otherwise known as "An Act Providing For Stronger Deterrence and Special 
Protection Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination, Providing For Its 
Violation, And For Other Purposes", and other applicable laws. 
b) Any person who violates any provision of this Act shall be penalized with 
imprisonment of not less than three (3) months but not more than, three (3) years 
or a fine of not less than Ten Thousand Pesos (PIO,OOO.OO) but not more than 
One Hundred Thousand Pesos (PIOO,OOO.OO) or both, at the discretion of the 
court. 
(c) Any agency which violates any provision of this Act and its implementing rules 
and regulations shall be penalized as follows~ 
1) For the first violation, a fine of not less than Five Thousand Pesos 
(P5,000.00) but not exceeding Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20, 000.00); 
and 
2) For any subsequent violation, a fine' of not less than Twenty Thousand 
Pesos (P20,000.00) but not exceeding One Hundred Thousand Pesos 
(PIOO,OOO.OO) and the revocation of its license to operate. 
(d) If the offender is a public official, the court may impose the additional penalty 
of disqualification from office in addition to the penalties provided in the 
preceding paragraph. 
ARTICLE VI1 
FINAL PROVISION 
SECTION 18. Foster Care Committee. The Regional Child Welfare Specialist 
Group of the DSWD shall serve as the Foster Care Committee which shall have the 
following functions: 
a) Review and deliberate on issues affecting the placement of a particular child: 
b) Make recommendations to resolve any dispute between, and among the agency, 
the parents, foster parents, and the child; 
c) Monitor the implementation, review and recommend changes in policies and 
other matters concerning foster care and the child's welfare; and 
d) Perforrn such other functions and duties as may be prescribed by the DSWD. 
SECTION 19. Appropriations. The arnount necessary to carry out the provision 
of this Act shall included in the General Appropriations Act of the year following its 
enactment into law and thereafter. An initial amount of Twenty Million Pesos 
(P20,000,000.00) shall be allocated for the first yeiu of its operations. Such sum shall 
be in the allocation for the child-related programs of the DSWD. 
SECTION 20. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DSWD as lead 
agency, the Department of the' Interior and Local Government, the Department of 
Justice, the Department of Health, the Council for the Welfare of Children, and other 
concerned government agencies, in consultation with accredited child-caring institutions 
and organizations with foster care programs and both Houses of Congress, are, hereby 
mandated to draft the implementing rules and' regulations to operationalize the 
provisions of this Act within three months from its effectivity. 
SECTION 21. Repealing Clause. - Any ,law, presidential decree, issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule and regulation contrary to 
5 


or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended 
accordingly. 
SECTION 22, Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and 
subsisting. 
SECTION 23. Effectivity Clause. - This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
following its publication in two newspapers of general circulation or in the Official 
Gazette 
Approved, 
6