MANILA, Philippines—A legislative bill waiting to be signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo simplifies the procedures and shortens the process for the adoption of abandoned children, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Under the bill, called “An Act Requiring the DSWD to Declare a Child Legally Available for Adoption,” the function of resolving Declaration of Abandonment cases has been transferred from the courts to the DSWD.

The bill, approved in a bicameral conference committee hearing last month, amends the provisions of Republic Act 8552, or the Domestic Adoption Act of 1995, and Presidential Decree 603, or the Child and Youth Welfare Code.

The new measure changes the nature of the proceedings to declare a child abandoned from judicial to administrative, said lawyer Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana, a former member of the Inter-Country Adoption Board, a DSWD attached agency. Nikko Dizon