Child Custody wars: Do Philippine Courts Prefer Mothers Over Fathers?

Custody embraces the sum of parental rights with respect to the rearing of a child, including his care. It
includes the right to the child’s services and earnings, and the right to direct his activities and make decisions
regarding his care and control, education, health, and religion.

The right of custody accorded to parents spring from the exercise of parental authority. Parental authority or
patria potestas in Roman Law is the juridical institution whereby parents rightfully assume control and
protection of their children to the extent required by the latter’s needs.

The question of which parent is more likely to get custody is an ever evolving one. Once, there was a policy of
ensuring that the mother always received custody, called the “tender years” doctrine, which assumed that
young children needed to be with their mothers in their early, developmental years. It is a common concept
that family law courts prefer mothers in custody battles. People will tell you that mothers always win the
custody.

But more recently, courts and lawmakers have realized that the mother is not always in the best position to
provide a safe and healthy environment for children.

This research aims to explore the certain rules set by the Family code that affects Philippine courts’ decision
on giving child custody. And to analyse whether these rules prefers mothers as having the custody more than
the fathers, or it brings certain conditions that give rise to equality and fairness in deciding to whom the child
custody will be given.

Sources:

 https://rightlawyers.com/do-courts-prefer-mothers-over-fathers/
 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/are-custody-decisions-bia_b_870709
 https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/family-law/the-right-of-custody-in-supreme-court-
law-essays.php
 https://www.manilatimes.net/best-interest-of-child-and-tender-years-doctrine/7504/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tender_years_doctrine