IRR for Foundling Law signed

The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Foundling Recognition and Protection Act, which deems abandoned children with unknown birth and parentage as natural-born Filipino citizens, was signed Friday.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo led the signing of the IRR.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, author and sponsor of the measure, said through the law, foundlings are given the right to access government programs and services such as registration, facilitation of documents for adoption, education, protection, nourishment, and care, among others.

The senator also said that a foundling shall be presumed a natural-born Filipino citizen if found in the Philippines or in Philippine embassies, consulates, and territories.

The law defines a foundling as a deserted or abandoned child or infant with unknown facts of birth and parentage.

“Ikinagagalak at ikinararangal kong maging parte sa pagsulat, pagsabatas, at ngayo’y pag-umpisa ng pag-implementa ng batas na ito,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

(I am proud to be part of crafting, passing, and now launching of the implementation of this law.)

“Magtulungan, mag-ambagan, at sama-sama nating siguraduhin na tunay na makinabang ang ating mga bata (Let us cooperate, contribute, and work together to ensure that the youth will truly benefit from this). May we never forget that the foundlings, our children, are the beating heart and very soul of this law,” she added.

She also extended her gratitude to Senators Lito Lapid, Pia Cayetano, and Grace Poe as well as her counterpart at the House of Representatives, Tingog party-list lawmaker Yedda Romualdez.

Hontiveros said Poe’s struggles of being a foundling “gave more meaning” to the crafting of the measure.

Poe was found in a church in Iloilo and was adopted by the late King of Philippine Movies Fernando Poe Jr. and the late Queen of Philippine Movies Susan Roces.

In a separate statement, Poe said that foundlings are no longer invisible through the signing of the IRR.

“We achieved victory with the enactment of the law.  With the IRR, we hope to see all abandoned children enjoying equal treatment and every available service due them,” she said.

Poe called on concerned agencies to implement the law fully and effectively.

“We must work together to make the country a shining example of humanitarianism by being a safe haven for foundlings,” she said.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the measure into law in May 2022.—AOL, GMA News