Illegal is Better???

     The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recently held several seminars to promote to the public the importance of legal adoption. This is due to the fact that most Filipinos adopt illegally by faking the Birth Certificates of babies, making them appear as if the baby was really the child of the parents. The term used to describe this crime is "Simulated Birth".

     So why do Filipinos prefer adopting illegally than doing it lawfully? It's because of the long wait and the complicated process of legal adoptions. Most legal adoptions take more than 2 years to process and it has to be filed in the courts. It is also necessary for the adopting parents to undergo and pass a Psychiatric test before they can adopt a child. Usual cost of legal adoption can easily reach more than Php150,000 and not all Filipinos can afford that. Services of liars, I mean lawyers are also necessary in order to file the papers in court, plus the hearings, motions, pleadings, etc. A real waste of time, money and effort for most couples.

     That's why the DSWD is trying its best to convince the public to adopt legally but the rules and processes are still unchanged. Adopting couples must still undergo the usual red tape. I bet  few couples are going to abide by this legal mambo-jumbo crap. If the government really wants to convince the public to do their adoptions legally it must make the process a bit easier, faster and less expensive.

     I'm not saying that the entire process should be rail-roaded to the detriment of the child but it should be eased a little bit without compromising the kid's welfare. For starters, the government could give free Psycho tests for adopting couples since going to a private shrink can easily cost you a couple of thousands of pesos. Besides, who's going to obey the laws of the land if you see how the leaders and lawmakers of this nation openly violate our laws? You better practice what you preach first before we'll start following you.