Desiring to have a child of her own, Susan Taglucop went to the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and inquired about how people like her could adopt a child.
“Fortunately, at that time, there was a child available for adoption. When we saw the child at the [childcare] center, we immediately decided na mag-go mi (we decided to give it a go),” Taglucop recalls.
The adoption process used to be meticulous as it had to undergo lengthy and costly judicial proceedings.
But when Republic Act 11642, or the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, was signed by President Duterte, people who wish to adopt a child may opt to go through a court proceedings or an administrative process.
“It is not complicated; for those who desire to adopt a child do not be afraid to try,” Taglucop said.
Another adoptive parent, Vivian Saavedra, was left with a one-week-old baby girl in her care. The baby’s mother had left the infant to her and never returned. She then had the child registered and made it appear on the birth certificate that she’s the child’s mother.
“When the child was in high school, I thought of going to the DSWD. I was getting sickly, and I wanted to secure the future of the child,” she said
National Authority for Child Care (NACC) Undersecretary Janella Ejercito Estrada
Saavedra initially hesitated in going to the DSWD as their lawyer told her that reporting a fraudulent birth certificate is punishable by imprisonment.
“But I do not want to see the child’s future be uncertain when I am gone, so I finally went to the DSWD,” Saavedra said.
She recalled that her doctor advised her that the DSWD office was approachable to discuss her problem. Heeding the doctor’s advice, she visited DSWD and applied for adoption. The proceedings took about two years.
RA 11642, signed in 2022, allows for a more affordable administrative adoption process. The judicial adoption process typically costs P150,000, a large portion of which goes to lawyer’s fees. Under the new law, the process would almost have zero money to spend.
The new adoption law also created the National Authority for Child Care, an attached agency of the DSWD.
The NACC has the original and exclusive jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to alternative child care, including declaring a child legally available for adoption; domestic administrative adoption; foster care under Republic Act No. 10165; adoptions under Republic Act No. 11222, also known as the “Simulated Birth Rectification Act”; and intercountry adoption under Republic Act No. 8043, also known as the “Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995.”
The Regional Alternative Child Care Office (RACCO) is the counterpart of NACC in the regions.
PIA’s Kapihan which serves as NACC/RACCO platform in raising awareness about adoption
The RACCO initiated a media campaign in June, with the assistance of Philippine Information Agency XI, to help those people wanting to adopt, whose adoptees still have no legal status, or those registered under simulated births, process their adoptions under the new law.
“Last June, we had an alternative child care and adoption week, so we joined the PIA Kapihan press conference. Through the sharing of the stories, nag-increase ang cases for adoption,” says Jacqueline Badua, Social Welfare Officer II of RACCO XI.
