Why legal adoption is important

Bernadette Sy-Siong at her college graduation with her adoptive parents, Ber and Merit Verano, and her brother who was also legally adopted. (Photo courtesy of Bernadette Sy-Siong via PNA)

MANILA — Many Filipino couples and adults look into adoption for a few good reasons. But, the most basic of them is to share love and provide a bright future to orphans and children who have been abandoned or neglected by their parents.

Legal adoption can be overwhelming as it often involves complicated requirements and lengthy procedures. Because of this, most potential adoptive parents turn to illegal adoption done through various social media platforms,  not thinking of the possible harms it could cause to the adoptees and their lives as well.

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Bernadette Sy-Siong said that being adopted legally is the greatest gift she has ever received from her adoptive parents, Ber and Merit Verano.

“Personally, being legally adopted made me feel na anak ako talaga kasi nasa birth certificate ang pangalan ng mga magulang ko. As opposed to pinalaki lang, parang walang 100 percent karapatan at walang legal protection ‘pag nawala na ang mga magulang (that I’m their real child because my parents’ names are in the birth certificate. As opposed to just being raised by them, there’s no 100 percent right and no legal protection when they’re already gone),” she said.

Sy-Siong was adopted by the Verano couple when she was four months old. Since her adoptive father is an engineer and her adoptive mother is a teacher, their family is well-known in Brookes Point, Palawan.

Being an adopted child, she received a lot of harsh remarks from her adoptive parents’ relatives, who seemed to be “jealous of her good life”. “One distant cousin of my mother confronted me when I was 12 saying I’m not a true Aguillar which was the surname of my mom. She told me ‘my child should’ve been in your place because you’re not their birth child‘, and so that was one of the situations adoptees like me face,” she said.

In a recent legal adoption forum, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova said about 6,500 children are declared “available for legal adoption” and almost 4,000 of them are under the care of both state-run and private residential care facilities.

Legal adoption provides a permanent family to orphans and children needing care and protection from parents, Relova said. She added such cannot be acquired through online adoption.

“Online adoptions are considered scams which could endanger the lives of children and parents involved. We warn the public not to participate in such scams,” she said, adding that DSWD pursues the legal consequences to get information about the online adoption and to catch the perpetrators.

Marikina City Regional Trial Court Branch 168 Judge Lorna Catris-Chua Cheng said adoption through social media is dangerous as it usually involves human traffickers, who pretend to be the adoptees’ parents.

Chua Cheng added they also result in simulated births — a scenario where adoptive mother presents themselves as the real or biological mothers which is considered tampering with the civil registry of children.

“Simulated births are dangerous because of the adoptive parents’ relatives who might have bad character. Especially if they are rich adoptive parents. Someone who is not biological child or legally adopted child is not a compulsory heir. The adoptive parents’ relatives might create a case for them to get the heir,” she said.

Since most of her adoptive parents’ relatives were not warm to her, Sy-Siong said she was confused and often had a heavy heart as a young girl.

“I came home one day crying because a classmate told me that I’m a nun’s child. My mama and papa explained to me that I’m adopted. No one told me this, but I tried to do my best in everything I do since I carry their surname and I promised to myself that I’ll make them proud,” she added.

Legal adoption – free and not extensive

Contrary to popular belief, legal adoption in the Philippines is “not a tedious process”.

“Dadaan muna sa DSWD administratively nang walang bayad (It [adoption application] will pass through DSWD first administratively with no fees), afterwards the judicial process will start,” Relova said, adding that delays in the whole adoption process are usually caused by mismatches between court hearing schedules and availability of the legal counsels of applicant adoptive parents.

On February 21, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Republic Act 11222 or the Simulated Birth Rectification.

The act simplifies the adoption process and grants amnesty to those who tampered with records to make it appear an adopted child was born to a person who is not the biological mother.

It also aims to fix the status and filiation of a child whose birth was simulated by giving such child all the benefits of adoption and ensuring that such child shall be entitled to all the rights provided by law to legally adopted children, “without discrimination of any kind, as well as to love, guidance, and support from the child’s adoptive family”.

Stressing that legal adoption-related processes have been streamlined, Relova urged couples and adults interested in adoption to visit DSWD’s field offices for information and assistance.

Meanwhile, Sy-Siong said that legal adoption is a reaffirmation of the adoptive parents’ love for their adopted children.

“Kung mawala na ang mga umampon na tunay na nagmamahal sa bata, kawawa naman kung hindi legally adopted. Gusto ko rin sana isulong ang pagbabago ng tingin sa mga adopted at mawala ang negative impression connected with the word ampon dahil sa mga (If the adoptive parents who truly love the adopted child die, it will be a pity if he or she wasn’t legally adopted.  I also want to push for the change on how people are recognized and the negative impression about the word adopted to disappear because of) stereotyping of movie or telenovela characters,” she added.