Congress ratifies bicameral report on easing adoption process
THE BICAMERAL committee report on a bill seeking to expedite the country’s child adoption process was ratified by Congress late Tuesday.
Under the final draft of the proposed Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, the Inter Country Adoption Board will be reorganized into the National Authority for Child Care (NACC), which is envisioned to be a one-stop shop for alternative child care.
Senator Pilar Juliana “Pia” S. Cayetano, who has an adopted son, said the bill puts in “the structure that would allow us to create a National Adoption Center that would oversee all the adoption and provide separate funding and personnel that would handle adoption.”
The proposed measure also provides for administrative adoption, thereby removing the judicial process that has made legal adoption lengthy and costly.
“According to statistics, only 60% of adoption cases in the country are finalized within one year to three years. Some cases take up to four years or longer. Families end up spending hundreds of thousands of pesos in these lengthy proceedings,” said Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, who chaired the bicameral committee meeting. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
