I am not very highly moral, as you perceive, but I choose to do what is right or what is willed by someone up high because it results to what is good - a lesson well-learned in my life. I must admit that foster care in RP is relatively new since 2012. Unlike the foster care system in the USA, it is not well established yet as an institution. Still, I think material deficiencies are more than compensated by filial compassion and familial society that is the norm here, in contrast to material advantages that are defeated by apathy and individualism in the USA. Besides, we do not have heroin crisis among our youth and gun-shooting in our schools. Still, this kind of problem is better worke out by some one up high who is in control of all.
'Choosing to do what is right' and 'following what results in good' are both values of a highly moral person. But, obviously, you are also modest. I would agree with leaving the child here for the benefits of your familial society but I assumed that she had no family here. I would also take this opportunity to reflect on the standards of your youth - which apart from a dereliction of responsibility by some boys when they father a child - is extremely good. There is no comparison with some of the foul behaviour of youth in many Western countries. Unfortunately, they are not served well by the education system. I could go into great detail but suffice to say it is not merely down to lack of money - it needs to be dealt with from the very bottom of the root upwards. Most improvements would merely require an attitudinal shift by those who are above the students.
So this girl has a Thai mother and an American father and no money or relatives in Philippines? Has she any residency visa or citizenship papers for Philippines? Methinks she needs to be adopted or deported or jailed for illegal alien. I am not suggesting any of these courses of action. I am asking: would this not be the law for an illegal alien?
Dave_Hounddriver is so right. Since she is born of Thai mother and American father, she has no claim to Philippine citizenship at all. Therefore Philippine foster care is not an option for her. Either her mother who did not want to stay here come to accept responsibility and bring her to Thailand or she goes to US as American citizen to benefit from state Child Care Services. The latter could be the better option. Meantime, since she is Thai-Am and probably also has a Thai passport, hopefully unexpired, is there any one to check out her documented status and whether her authorized stay in Philippines is running out so that she does not become an illegally-staying alien? Poor kid - so young to be standing all alone before a major crossroad at 12 years old!
I assume when a child is adopted then it will gain also the citizenship or the residental status of the adopting parents. Will this be true on the philippines also?
First, proceedings for adoption of a Filipino child can be filed and could progress locally only if one of the adopting parents is a Filipino citizen. I am unsure though whether our local court can acquire jurisdiction over a case of foreign child petitioned to be adopted by a Filipino. In either case, the Court could require proof that the mother deserted, has not communicated or efforts to locate the living natural parent/s failed , sothat the child is effectively abandoned. About your question, yes, an adopted child acquires the citizenship of the adopting parents. So, if a Filipino married to a foreigner is successful in legally adopting a Filipino child, the child maintains his Filipino citizenship at the same time that he derives right to foreign citizenship for having a foreigner as a father. This I know as fact from my Fil-am sister's experience. In a case where the child is Thai-Am petitioned for adoption by a Filipino married to an American, if the Court acquires jurisdiction and if the petition prospers to success, then the child could acquire both Filipino and American citizenship (but the 2-year local residency with adoptive mother for compatibility assurance under International Child Adoption Law must be complied before the child can be issued US passport because US is signatory to that internationl law).
Okay interesting; so if I adopt my Daughter here in the Philippines, she will automatically gain my Australian Citizenship also as well as retain her Filipino Citizenship? It is still a path I am yet to travel, she is 10 years old and I have known her for 9 of those 10 years and to her I am her real father and I feel likewise to her as my daughter. While I wish to adopt her, I have never heard of a child adopting the citizenship of her adoptive parent before, so would like to know more regards this, or does this only pertain to American Citizenship?
In the case of my Fil-Am sister's adopted child, US citizenship was not automatic immediately after the Philippine legal adoption process. We got the child a Filipino passport bearing his new American family name so that he could pass through BI with DSWD travel clearance. But to get the US visa so that he can travel to and enter a US port of entry, my sister and her American husband was required to comply with US country-specific requirements that includes compliance with the Hague Adoption Convention. After completing post-legal adoption 2-year local residency, the child was finally issued the US visa, traveled to USA with my sister and her family, and then promptly took oath as US citizen soon upon arrival. I have yet to gain personal experience in Australia law, so I looked it up. It appears Australian citizenship is acquired automatically on adoption if : the adoption takes place in Australia on or after 22 November 1984, the child is a permanent resident, and at least one adoptive parent is an Australian citizen. In all other circumstances, an application for grant of Australian citizenship must be made for the child. On 8 May 2005, the Minister for Citizenship announced a policy change to require all child applicants for grant of Australian citizenship by adoption to hold an adoption visa, or other permanent visa. However, it does not appear that there is any requirement for the child to be physically resident in Australia. Additionally, the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 allows for simplified registration of a person as an Australian citizen where that person was adopted overseas in accordance with the Hague Adoption Convention.
Agree. She is likely much better off in the foster system in the US than living in squalor and going through the sub-par education system like 90% of Filipino do.
A lot has been said in this topic but until re-reading I missed the part about the US embassy WILL pick her up. It gives me pause to ask a couple of questions: If the child has only known life in Philippines does she want to leave and go to a foster home in a strange country, the USA? This is important to figure out before she gets shipped off to the US. What does the child want? What is best for her? Was she born in another country and brought here or was she born here to foreign parents? If the latter, the Administrative Naturalization Law of 2000 (R.A. 9139) provides a path for administrative naturalization. So she could likely stay in Philippines if it is what she wants. Reading that the mother left when the child was 6 months old tends to make me think the child was born in Philippines. Is that known? She has an expired passport so it could be checked. If she wants to stay in Philippines, who is the lady looking after her and would she want to/be able to apply for guardianship? As the child is the only known dependent of the American (she has an expired passport and that's proof enough) she will qualify for survivor benefits from his pension, correct? I bet there is someone that the child knows in Philippines who will be willing to be her guardian once they realize she comes with Social Security survivor-ship benefits. And that money will help her a lot more in Philippines than in some foster home in the US, IMHO. Did the child go to school here? Have a best friend here? Staying in Philippines with no money would be hell on her but staying here with a friend and SS benefits could be exactly what she is best for her, at least until she is 18 and ready to go to the US on her own. Just an opinion, folks, but I have little faith in "the system picking her up".
