Senator Grace Poe. CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net
Senator Grace Poe has filed Senate Bill No. 1725 that seeks to simplify the process of legally adopting children by allowing the correction of simulated birth records through administrative proceedings instead of court proceedings.
Birth simulation refers to the tampering of the civil registry to make it appear in the birth record that a child was born to a person who is not his or her biological mother.
The bill states that a petition to rectify a simulated birth record should be filed within ten years from the effectivity of the measure.
Under the legislation, those who simulated the birth record of a child are spared from criminal, civil and administrative liability, provided that the act was done for the best interest of the child.
“This will give the adoptive parents the opportunity to have the status of their adopted child or children regularized in law,” Poe said in a statement on Friday.
“It is also in the best interest of the parents and the children to have the records rectified for possible future uses such as medical or DNA purposes or for other legal matters,” the senator said.
READ: Poe: Adoption should be through DSWD not courts
Instead of going through the courts, Poe said that adoptive parents may file their petition instead through the social welfare and development officer of the city or municipality where the child resides.
“The Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development shall decide on the petition within 30 days from receipt of the recommendation of the department’s regional director,” Poe said.
The senator also filed Senate Resolution No. 672 which seeks to revisit the Domestic Adoption Act of 1998, noting the gap in the big number of children who may be legally adopted and the successful legal adoption cases.
“The disparity in the number of children declared legally available for adoption and the number of successful legal adoptions in the country is indicative of flaws in the Domestic Adoption Act and its implementation,” Poe said in her resolution.
The measure asks the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender to look into the status of the law’s implementation and make a comprehensive review and gap analysis of the law, streamline adoption procedures and make formal adoption more accessible.
“It is time to break the barriers that hinder good and caring potential adoptive parents from giving home and family to the thousands of children in orphanages,” the senator said. /jpv