By Mario Casayuran The 24-member Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill simplifying the adoption process of a child by allowing the rectification of simulated births through a simpler administrative proceeding. Senator Vicente Sotto III
(Kevin Tristan Espiritu / MANILA BULLETIN) The measure, Senate Bill 2081, entitled “Simulated Birth Rectification Act of 2018,” is contained in Committee Report 498 prepared by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros. Hontiveros said the bill aims “to grant amnesty and allow the rectification of the simulated birth of a child where simulation was made for the best interest of the child, and that such child has been consistently considered and treated by the person” who considered the child as his or her own. The bill is a substitution of Senate Bill 1725, introduced by Sen. Grace Poe, and Senate Bill 1728, proposed by Hontiveros and Sen. Leila de Lima. Its counterpart measure, House Bill No. 5675, was approved by the House of Representatives on August 29 last year and was transmitted to the Senate two days later. In her sponsorship speech, Hontiveros said the bill seeks to correct the status of a child whose birth was simulated by opening the avenue for a legal adoption that the child may enjoy all the benefits offered by the law to legally adopted children. According to the measure, “birth simulation” refers to the tampering of the civil registry to make it appear in the record of birth that a child was born to a person who is not the child’s biological mother.