Bill to fast-track domestic adoption process introduced in Senate plenary

A bill seeking to expedite the process and reduce the cost of legal domestic adoption was sponsored in the Senate plenary on Monday.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, sponsor of the proposed Domestic Administrative Adoption Act, said the finalization of legal adoption usually takes around two to four years under the current system.

"According to the statistics, only 60%  of adoption cases were finalized within one to three years. Ang nagagastos ay daan-daan libo kung isusuma ang lahat ng babayaran," she said in her speech.

"The process itself, Mr. President, disincentivizes undergoing the legal process of adopting a child – so much so that according to the Department of Social Work and Development, only around 2,000 children have been placed for domestic adoption from 2010 to 2018," she added.

The complicated adoption process forces some desperate individuals to circumvent the law and undertake informal adoptions, according to the senator.

Under the proposed law, domestic adoptions would be allowed to be undertaken through an administrative process within the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

"This will dispense with the lengthy process associated with judicial adoption, and will abbreviate the waiting time of adoptive parents to six to nine months. Matatapatan nito ang panahon ng pagdadalang-tao ng isang ina," Hontiveros said.

Senator Grace Poe said the measure is close to her heart, being an adopted child herself.

"Ako po ay Grade 1 na, hindi pa malinaw ang aking birth certificate, ito po ay dumadaan pa sa proseso ng hustisya. Mabuti na lang at may kakayanan ang aking mga magulang na gawing legal ang aking pagkatao sa ating bansa," she said.

"Kung hindi, siguro fast-forward sa mga taon na ito ay wala rin ako rito na kasama ninyo na tumutulong para mapabuti naman ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan sa pamamagitan ng mga batas na ipinapasa natin," she added.

Senator Pia Cayetano, an adoptive parent, also appreciated the bill.

"I have gone through that actual process. I know what it is like... I have personally experienced the joy and pain and difficulty of adopting a child in this country," she said.

Though the measure seeks to fast-track the process for domestic adoption, it would continue to protect the welfare of children and adoptive parents, its sponsor said.

Similar bills are pending at the committee level in the House of Representatives.—AOL, GMA News