At the 4th LoveL4ban Pride PH Festival held at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, National Authority for Child Care (NACC) Undersecretary Atty. Gaby Concepcion invited Filipinos to rethink the traditional image of a family. For generations, many have grown up believing that a family can only exist in one form – mother, a father, and their children. While that remains true for many households, it is no longer the only reality.
Diverse Family Structures
As Atty. Concepcion emphasized, families come in many forms. Some are led by solo parents. Others are formed through adoption or foster care. Some include LGBTQIA+ parents, while others embrace LGBTQIA+ children. What ultimately binds a family together is not its composition, but its shared commitment to love, care, protection, and responsibility.
As she concluded in her solidarity message, "In the end, it's all about love and acceptance. Because #LoveWins and it should win, all the time." That message resonates deeply with the mission of the NACC. Every day, children across the country wait for permanent families where they can feel safe, valued, accepted, and loved.
NACC's Commitment to Equal Access
This is why the NACC continues to uphold equal access to permanent family-based care. Under Republic Act No. 11642, or the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, adoption and foster care are guided by one overriding principle: the best interests of the child. Prospective adoptive and foster parents are assessed based on their emotional readiness, parenting capacity, financial stability, moral character, and ability to provide a loving and supportive home — not on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
It is important, however, to distinguish eligibility from existing legal limitations. Philippine law does not currently recognize same-sex marriage, and as such, same-sex couples cannot jointly file a petition to adopt as spouses. LGBTQIA+ individuals, however, are legally qualified to adopt or become foster parents as single applicants, provided they satisfy all the qualifications and successfully undergo the same comprehensive assessment required of every prospective parent.
While the law does not yet recognize their partners as co-adoptive parents, this legal limitation does not diminish the capacity of LGBTQIA+ individuals to become devoted, responsible, and loving parents.
Pride Festival Advocacy
The NACC carried this message beyond the stage. Throughout the festival, the Regional Alternative Child Care Office, National Capital Region (Racco-NCR), operated one of the event’s most-visited advocacy booths. Visitors stopped by to receive informational materials, stickers, and advocacy items while learning more about legal adoption, foster care, and other alternative child care programs and services.
Perhaps that is one of Pride Month’s most enduring lessons. Inclusion is not simply about recognizing people's identities. It is also about recognizing their capacity to love, to care, and to build families where children can flourish. For every child waiting in adoption, foster care, and residential care, what matters most is not whether a family fits a traditional mold. What matters is finding a family that will stay through life's uncertainties, provide unconditional support, and offer the security and belonging every child deserves.
In the end, every child deserves more than a home. Every child deserves a family that chooses them, that protects them, and loves them. And if love truly wins, then every child should have the opportunity to experience it.
