649 children legally available for adoption in Central Visayas
649 children legally available for adoption in Central Visayas
Published February 3, 2019, 5:55 PM
By Minerva Newman
CEBU CITY – Some 649 children in Central Visayas had been declared legally available for adoption from 2014 to 2018, according to Clavel Saycon, head of the Adoption Resources and Referral division of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Field Office.
Last year alone, 62 children were placed and endorsed for adoption, Saycon said.
Saycon told Manila Bulletin the adoption is a way of providing a permanent family for abandoned, neglected and abused children.
“The process starts at the DSWD for intentions to adopt and filling in of application forms by the prospective adoptive parents (PAPs). DSWD then investigates, assess the economic situation of both the PAPs and the children for adoption for matching purposes,” Saycon said.
It usually takes one or two years for an adoption to be approved.
At an adoption consciousness forum recently, Saycon said some parents and public servants are in danger of facing charges for illegal adoption for resorting to what is called “simulation of birth”.
She said that simulation of birth is the tampering of the child’s civil registry data to make it appear that a child was born to a person who is not his/her biological mother.
Simulation of birth and adoption of a child without due court process are issues often asked in community forums because there are many cases of children whose parentage are assumed by neighbors and or close relatives, Saycon said.
This is defined in the Domestic Adoption Act of 1998 (Republic Act No. 8552) that only the DSWD and DSWD-accredited institutions are authorized to place/endorse children for domestic or inter-country legal adoption, she said.
Violation against Section 21 of RA 8552 carries the penalties or a fine from P50,000 to P200,000 and imprisonment of from six to 12 years.
Public officials involved in faking documents face suspension. (With reports from Sarah Hazel Chavez, USC intern)
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