The number of domestic adoption cases has slightly decreased from 2019 to 2020, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Saturday, Feb. 6.
Director Wilma Naviamos of the DSWD's Program Management Bureau (PMB) said they recorded almost 11-percent decrease in the number of domestic adoption cases last year in the country as compared to 2019 figures.
“Sa domestic adoption, base sa aming record, nung 2019 ay meron kaming nahandle na 312 domestic adoption cases. Sa 2020, we have 278. (For domestic adoption, based on our record, in 2019, we handled 312 domestic adoption cases. In 2020, we have 278),” she a virtual media forum dubbed “Family for Children in Need Amidst the Pandemic: Support to Adoption Implementation During the Time of COVID-19” on Saturday as part of the week-long Adoption Consciousness Celebration (ACC) from Feb. 6 to 12.
But, she noted that from 2009 to 2020, they recorded a total of 2, 815 domestic adoption cases.
Based on the PMB records, the number of “cleared” children for inter-country adoption totaled to 4, 396 from 2009 to 2020, according to Naviamos.
She noted that the data was already submitted to the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB).
While, the children “matched” for inter-country adoption during the 12-year period numbered to around 3, 819.
ICAB Executive Director Bernadette Abejo admitted that they are having a hard time tracking cases of illegal adoption.
"Because it is illegal. we cannot track it. It will only come out when somebody files a case or complaint. Mahirap i-track ang illegal adoption (It is difficult to track illegal adoption),” she said.
“If you will open your Facebook page right now, there are so many sites claiming to be able to do adoptions , we can only complain so much and try to shut all these sites down , but without, say Facebook itself, we cannot close it,” she laments.
The DSWD has been reminding would-be adoptive parents to resort to legal adoption rather than transacting with social media pages facilitating illegal adoption.