Article 209. Pursuant to the natural right and duty of parents over the person and property of their unemancipated children, parental authority and responsibility shall include the caring for and rearing them for civic consciousness and efficiency and the development of their moral, mental and physical character and well-being. (n)

TITLE IX: PARENTAL AUTHORITY

Chapter 1. General Provisions

Art. 209. Pursuant to the natural right and duty of parents over the person and property of their unemancipated children, parental authority and responsibility shall include the caring for and rearing them for civic consciousness and efficiency and the development of their moral, mental and physical character and well-being. (n)

Parental authority is otherwise known as 'patria potestas' and is the sum total of the rights of parents over the person and property of their children until their majority age or emancipation and even after this certain circumstances. (2 Manresa 8)

Under the present concept of parental authority, the right of the parents to the company and custody of their children is but ancillary to the proper discharge of duties to provide the children with adequate support, education, moral, intellectual, and civic training and development.

Thus, while our law recognizes the rights of a parent to custody and care of a child, the courts see to it to the basic principle that "in all questions of care, custody, education, and property of the children, the latter's welfare shall be paramount."

References:

Civil Code of the Phils. Annotated 16th Edition by Edgardo Paras

Family Code of the Phils. 2017th Edition by Ed Vincent S. Albano