1/5/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Senator Santiago. I am delighted to accept the amendment, Mr. President. The President. Is there any objection? [Silence] There being none, the amendment is approved.[11] Although Senate Bill No. 1523 originally indicated that the exception should only cover relatives by consanguinity, the lawmakers were in agreement during the period of individual amendments to include the phrase "or affinity within the fourth civil degree" in order to expand the coverage to more children or relatives under the preferential exception embodied in Section 7. The reason was stated in Section 2 of the law, which declares that it is the State's policy "to ensure that every child remains under the care and custody of his/her parent(s) and be provided with love, care, understanding and security towards the full and harmonious development of his/her personality." R.A. No. 8552 undoubtedly intended to include Jan Aurel, the biological child of Mary Jane, in the term "relatives" under Section 7(b)(iii) because he was her relative within the first civil degree. Finding otherwise would engender a situation where the alien adopter would be able to undergo a speedy and less expensive adoption process by being able to adopt, say, his Filipina spouse's nephew or niece instead of the Filipino spouse's own child. It is relevant to note that the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) joins the petitioners' position, and emphasizes that "if the law exempts the alien adopter from residency and certification requirements if he/she will adopt the brother/sister, nephew/niece or cousin of his/her Filipino spouse (who are within the 4th civil degree of consanguinity or affinity), then there is no reason to exclude the application of the said exemption if the adoptee is the illegitimate child of the said Filipino spouse."[12] At any rate, had the legislators intended that only the legitimate children were contemplated by Section 7(b)(i) and (iii), then Congress should have been written the law as explicitly. Indeed, Congress did so in Section 7(b)(ii)[13] by including the term "legitimate" to describe the children contemplated by that clause. Section 7(b)(i) and (iii) clearly covered both legitimate and illegitimate relatives as long as they were within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity. II Courts may take judicial notice of the existence of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan The petitioners assert that their petition for adoption has indicated the existence of the diplomatic relations between Philippines and Japan, but they did not anymore prove the same during the trial because the existence of such diplomatic relations was within the judicial notice of the courts.[14] https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66000 7/10