THE Regional Alternative Child Care Office-6 discusses legal adoption in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)
ILOILO CITY — A quasi-judicial agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Western Visayas region has warned against online baby selling, particularly on Facebook.
“Online baby selling is tantamount to human trafficking, child abuse, exploitation, and illegal adoption,” warned Janice Brasileño, officer-in-charge of the National Authority for Child Care (NACC)-Regional Alternative Child Care Office in Western Visayas.
“Online baby selling also poses a threat to the life of a child,” Brasileño added during a media forum as part of Adoption and Alternative Child Care (AACC) Week with the theme “Hope and Home for Every Child. ”
The NACC is working to stop online baby selling or online trading of children.
In Western Visayas, three young victims were recently put in foster care.
“What’s sad is the perpetrators privately message couples who long to have a child,” Brasileño said.
The RACCO-6 found that a midwife was involved and was caught during an entrapment operation.
The public was urged to report these Facebook pages directly to Meta or proper authorities.
Brasileño encouraged couples or individuals wanting to adopt a child to do it the right way.
She cited Republic Act No. 11642 or the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act.
“It has been streamlined and more affordable. From a judicial process, it is now an administrative process,” Brasileño added.