Happy place for very sad PH orphans

MANILA, Philippines— Good news for Filipino orphans, especially those with a very sad past.

The small Italian enclave of Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, or Most Serene Republic of San Marino, has chosen the Philippines as partner in its “very first inter-country adoption program.”

A “very good life” and a “better future” await abandoned Filipino children—aged 15 and below—in the 61-square-kilometer European microstate, according to the Honorary Consulate of San Marino and the local Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB), which is headed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

$44,000 per capita

In San Marino, which has a population of 31,000 and a per capita income of over $44,000, Italian-speaking adoptive parents are “financially in a good position to adopt a child,” noted Assistant Solicitor General Ma. Cielo Rondain, who sits on the ICAB.

Rondain called San Marino a “place where an abandoned Filipino kid would grow as a happy child.”

“It’s a fantastic, small country that takes care of its people, the Sanmarinese, providing them with free education and free social services,” she said. “It’s so safe to live there,” said Rondain, who visited San Marino last year upon the invitation of its government.

Jean Henri Lhuillier, San Marino’s honorary consul to the Philippines, initiated the adoption program shortly upon assuming his post in 2007.

Safeguards

Silvie Bollini, San Marino foreign affairs first secretary, is in town to “scout for orphanages with the help of the DSWD and the ICAB,” said Lhuillier.

Bollini said, “life today is very hard, especially for orphaned children. Because we have good relations with the Philippines, we decided to help through the ICAB.”

She also cited the Philippine government for “providing many safeguards in the adoption process.”

“We also share the same views on (child) adoption,” Bollini emphasized.

That is, “not providing a child to a family, but a family to a child,” Bollini added.

500 adoptions

The ICAB is currently processing the adoption papers of two Filipino orphans under an agreement signed last year, Rondain disclosed.

“The process takes at least two years. The government deals only with legitimate agencies abroad and makes sure that no kids are trafficked for prostitution or organ donation,” she explained.

Republic Act No. 8043, enacted on June 7, 1996, governs the inter-country adoption program here. The law is in compliance with the 1995 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption.

Each year, an average of 500 Filipino orphans are adopted by foreigners or Filipino citizens residing abroad.