MANILA, Philippines — The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of two laws providing free meals for undernourished children and simplifying the adoption process in the country were signed Monday.
The IRR of Republic Act 11037 or the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act and Republic Act 11222 or the Simulated Birth Rectification Act was signed at the central office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Quezon City.
Under RA 11037, free meals should be provided for at least 120 days to undernourished children aged three to five years old at the pre-school level. Those in kindergarten and elementary-level students are also covered by the law.
READ: Duterte signs law creating feeding program for undernourished kids
Senator Grace Poe, author of the law, said the act serves as a “preventive measure that pre-empts health expenses that malnutrition incurs.”
“The IRR deals with a basic human right, and that is the right to eat adequately, which in turn, means the right to survive,” Poe said in a speech she delivered at the signing of the IRRs.
“I believe that the feeding program is linked to many outcomes. It incentivizes school and daycare attendance,” Poe also said, adding that the law would cover around 4.2 million Filipino children.
Meanwhile, RA 11222 allows the rectification of simulated births through a simplified administrative proceeding, thus simplifying the adoption process in the country.
The law seeks to grants amnesty to parties who had simulated birth records, as long as the act was done “for the best interest of the child.”
“When parents resort to simulating the birth of a child, the old law penalizes an act of love,” Poe said.
READ: New law seeks to rectify ‘doctored’ birth records
Poe, who also authored the law and was also legally adopted by actress Susan Roces and late actor Fernando Poe Jr., lamented the long process of adoption in the country.
“Ang pinagdaanan ng aking mga magulang para ako’y ma-legally adopt ay hindi biro. (What my parents went through to legally adopt me was no joke.) I was found in 1968, and I believe that the process was not finished until 1974,” Poe shared.
The senator also appealed for solidarity, as she noted that the country should be united when it comes to child rights and welfare. /kga