“Nothing we do for children is ever wasted because every child deserves love and every child matters.”

National Authority for Child Care (NACC) Undersecretary Janella Ejercito Estrada stressed this when she presented the new administrative adoption landscape in the Philippines during the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Asia Pacific Week last 25 to 28 June in Seoul, South Korea.

In a presentation titled “Philippines’ Tasks, Challenges, and Good Practices in Implementing the 1993 Adoption Convention,” Estrada highlighted the innovative changes and best practices that the Philippines has undertaken upon the establishment of the NACC for streamlined programs and services on adoption and alternative child care per RA 11642 or the “Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act.”

Estrada stated that the NACC’s work is “rooted in shared principles on child protection, ethical practice and adherence to international standards” so as “every child in need of a family is placed with the most suitable adoptive parents guided by the child’s best interest and the highest standards of care.”

As panelist, Estrada shared some of the recent strategies and good practices in the country’s Inter-Country Adoption Program that takes pride in the preparation of comprehensive child case study report, conduct of judicious three-tiered matching process of children before they can be cleared for inter-country adoption, an established policy and legal frameworks for both domestic administrative and inter-country adoptions, strong collaboration and programs with stakeholders, the success of the Inter-Country Hosting Program, and the development of IT systems to enhance case management and streamline administrative systems and processes at the NACC.

Under the Inter-Country Adoption Program, Estrada reported that the NACC is currently working with some 27 accredited Foreign Adoption Agencies and 40 Central Authorities for the placement of our children cleared for ICA — children who are aging out, with siblings and with disabilities who can no longer be adopted domestically. Inter-country adoption becomes their last bastion of hope in finding their forever families and that is why the NACC will continue to strengthen ICA through its initiative to transition to finalized administrative inter-country adoption.

Estrada also announced the conduct of the 18th Global Consultation on Inter-Country Adoption and Child Welfare Development in October this year in Cebu City, to be hosted by the Philippine government through the NACC.