Bill expediting local adoption process up for Senate plenary debate

MANILA, Philippines — A proposed legislation that would shorten the domestic adoption process in the country to at least six months has reached the Senate floor for plenary debates.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, endorsed for plenary approval Senate Bill No. 1933 or the proposed Domestic Administrative Adoption Act during Monday’s session.

The bill is contained under Committee Report No. 147, which is signed by 15 senators.

In sponsoring the measure, Hontiveros said the existing process of domestic adoption in the country discourages parents from undergoing the legal process of adopting a child.

She said it usually takes up to three years or even more before an adoption can be finalized. At least 60 percent of adoption cases are completed within one to three years, she added.

“This situation pushes individuals to circumvent the law and forces them to undertake informal adoptions that put the welfare of both the adopted child and adoptive parents at risk as it provides little to no legal protection at all,” Hontiveros added.

Citing data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), she said only around 2,000 children were placed for domestic adoption from 2010 to 2018.

“This bill will allow domestic adoptions to be undertaken via an administrative process within the DSWD,” she said.

This, Hontiveros said, would “dispense” the “lengthy” process associated with judicial adoption and cut the waiting time of adoptive parents to six to nine months.

“Matatapatan nito ang panahon ng pagdadalang-tao ng isang ina,” she said.

(This equates to the duration of a pregnancy.)

KGA