Short answer. Under the law as originally written, yes — rescission restored the biological parent's parental authority (or the Department's legal custody) if the adoptee was still a minor or incapacitated. But that law, RA 8552, was repealed in 2022 by RA 11642, which moved adoption to an administrative process, so confirm the current rule before relying on this.
What the law says
If the petition is granted, the parental authority of the adoptee's biological parent(s), if known, or the legal custody of the Department shall be restored if the adoptee is still a minor or incapacitated.
RA 8552, Section 20 — Effects Of Rescission. Read the full provision →
What RA 8552 said about rescission, as originally enacted
As written, this provision answered the question directly: if a petition to rescind an adoption was granted, the biological parent's parental authority was restored, provided the adoptee was known and the adoptee was still a minor or incapacitated. Where the biological parent wasn't known, legal custody reverted to the Department instead. The same provision also extinguished the reciprocal rights and obligations between adopter and adoptee, and directed the Civil Registrar to cancel the amended birth certificate and restore the original one.
Why you can't stop reading there
Republic Act No. 8552 was expressly repealed in its entirety by Republic Act No. 11642 in 2022. Domestic adoption in the Philippines is no longer processed as a court petition at all — it now runs through an administrative process before the National Authority for Child Care. That change reaches rescission too: a provision written around a court "granting a petition" describes a mechanism that predates the current administrative structure, even though the words above are still the actual text RA 8552 once contained.
What we can tell you, and what we can't
We don't have the National Authority for Child Care's own rescission provisions to quote you, so we won't state as current law that restoration of parental authority happens automatically, or describe the exact process, agency, or form it now takes. What is safe to say is that the underlying idea — that ending an adoption has to resolve who holds parental authority over a still-dependent child — is not a detail any adoption framework could plausibly drop, even where the specific mechanics have moved.
Why this matters for you concretely
If you are a biological parent whose child was adopted and you are now asking whether rescission restores your authority, or dealing with the aftermath of a rescission, do not assume the RA 8552 mechanics above — a granted court petition automatically restoring authority — describe the process you're actually in. Confirm which framework governs your situation, since the answer may turn on when the adoption and any rescission proceeding took place relative to RA 11642 taking effect.