(From left to right): Winners of the 2017 Adoption Poster Making Competition John Emmanuel Morales from Paradise Farms National High School (2nd runner up), Mayshelle Janzenne Reyes from Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School (grand champion), and Johann Fredrich Dipasupil from Bauan Technical High School (1st runner up) showcase their special artworks featuring the unconditional love brought by legal adoption between adoptive parents and their adopted children during the afternoon session of the Regional Conference on Adoption in Quezon CIty.
(From left to right): Winners of the 2017 Adoption Poster Making Competition John Emmanuel Morales from Paradise Farms National High School (2nd runner up), Mayshelle Janzenne Reyes from Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School (grand champion), and Johann Fredrich Dipasupil from Bauan Technical High School (1st runner up) showcase their special artworks featuring the unconditional love brought by legal adoption between adoptive parents and their adopted children during the afternoon session of the Regional Conference on Adoption in Quezon City.

In line with the efforts of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to strengthen and promote legal adoption in the Philippines, the Department concluded over the weekend a Regional Conference on Adoption with adoptive families, legal adoption supporters, and partner child-placement agencies.

The activity tackled the concerns on the finalization of the legal adoption process and to discuss post-adoption services offered by the DSWD.

In his message, read by DSWD Protective Services Bureau (PSB) Director Ma. Alicia Bonoan, DSWD Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Emmanuel A. Leyco, stressed the importance of following the legal adoption process to protect the welfare, safety, and security of  adopted children.

May katagalan ang proseso ng legal na pag-aampon, pero alam natin na mahalaga ito at kailangang daanan. Ang pagpapaloob natin sa prosesong ito ay napakahalagang patunay din na talagang gusto nating mag-ampon at seryoso tayo sa ating layuning magbigyan ng mapagmahal na tahanan ang mga batang nawalan ng mga magulang dahil sa iba’t-ibang kadahilanan (We are aware of the tediousness of the legal adoption process, but we need to follow it. Our adherence to the process proves that we are serious in our plans to pursue legal adoption and to provide loving homes for children who do not have parents due to various circumstances),” the DSWD OIC said in his message.

Adoption Disruption and Post-Adoption

One of the topics raised during the conference’s plenary discussion was the “Causes and Implication of Adoption Disruption.”

Adoption Disruption happens when the placement for adoption of a child is discontinued or not completed due to factors such as mismatching of the adoptive family, inadequate assessment and preparation of both adoptive parents and adoptee, and other situational factors.

To prevent disruption, PSB chief Bonoan said that it is important for prospective adoptive parents to disclose all significant information which may affect their child-caring capability (i.e. mental condition, previous illnesses, resources, etc.) and that social workers handling the case must be skilled and knowledgeable enough to provide comprehensive child and home study reports.

Other resource speakers who were present were Ms. Maricel Barnedo from the DSWD-National Capital Region (NCR), who discussed post-adoption services offered by the Department such as post-legal adoption counseling to prevent rescission of adoption and admission to adoptive parents support groups, adoptive father Mr. Fredrick Separa who shared the challenges and difficulties that he experienced in the finalization of his adopted child, Ms. Melanie Luczon from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation on the PhilHealth benefits for adoptive families, and adoptive mother Ms. Cecilia Velez on the effectiveness of E-books in adoption telling.

During the open forum, the adoptive parents reiterated their support to make legal adoption an administrative process in order to hasten the process of legal adoption in the country.

Adoption Poster Making Competition

The second part of the activity was the awarding of the 2017 Adoption Poster Making Competition using the Adoption Consciousness Celebration’s theme, “Pagmamahal Palaganapin, Legal na Pag-aampon Ating Gawin! (Spread Unconditional Love Through Legal Adoption).”

The competition was organized by the DSWD in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) to lessen the negative perception on adoption in public schools and to promote legal adoption as an expression of unconditional love to abandoned, neglected, and surrendered children.

Among the 88 entries received by the DepEd and DSWD from Grade 7 to 9 students in different public schools nationwide, three young artists bagged the highest awards. These were the following:

  • Mayshelle Janzenne Reyes from Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School – “Legal na Paraan ay Gawin sa Pag-ampon ng Bata Upang Pagmamahal at Pag-aaruga sa Kanya ay Di Mabalewala” (Grand winner)
  • Johann Fredrich Dipasupil from Bauan Technical High School – “Magkaibang Dugo, Iisang Puso (1st runner up)
  • John Emmanuel Morales from Paradise Farms National High School – “Ang Paglaya sa Tanikala ng Kalungkutan” (2nd runner up)

The DSWD is grateful to all the young artists for their participation and for helping the agency in promoting the legal adoption advocacy. ###