NORTHERN Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza lauded the Department of Social Welfare and Development for releasing the Omnibus Guidelines on Republic Act 11642 or the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care law.

The law mandates the adoption process will be purely an administrative proceeding.

“Through RA 11642, we are correcting age-old problems in adoption, which typically took years to resolve. The previous law, RA 8552 or Domestic Adoption Act of 1998, required a set of procedures, while founded on good intents, that often lead to emotional and financial strains on parties involved, not to mention clogging of cases in courts,” he said.

The law empowers the DSWD to issue adoption creeds without the need for judicial procedures, saving costs for intending adoptive parents, allowing better chances for children needing adoption and de-clogging overburdened courts.

“Not only are we building better chances for families and children, we are also ensuring clear procedures for helping abused or neglected children. Children in these difficult circumstances need the society’s concerted efforts,” Daza said.

The law recognizes that there are children living in traditional families, with both parents at home, but experience deep emotional and physical pains on a day-to-day basis.

“This legislation is also for them. We do not only wish to match prospective parents with prospective children; we also wish to ensure that all Filipino children are living in homes that are truly safe and loving,” Daza said.