By Jennifer P. Rendon
In the past, some couples who want their own child would acknowledge a kid by indicating their names as biological parents in the birth certificate even if they are not the actual parents.
In most cases, couples registered the child as their own offspring the moment the latter is born or what is called simulation of birth which was a crime.
But there is now a cure for this situation with the passage of Republic Act 11222.
R.A. 11222 (An Act Allowing the Rectification of Simulated Birth Records and Prescribing Administrative Adoption Proceedings for the Purpose) allows petitioners to adopt a child without facing criminal charges.
In Western Visayas, the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Region 6 (DSWD-6) recorded its first approved Administrative Adoption case filed under RA 11222 in Mambusao, Capiz recently.
R.A. 11222 was signed into law on Feb 21, 2019, and took effect on March 29, 2019, or 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
Its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) were approved on Oct 7, 2019, and took effect on Dec 10, 2019 and will remain in effect until March 29, 2029.
DSWD-6, through its Adoption Resource and Referral Unit, officially endorsed the Order of Adoption and Certificate of Finality to couple-petitioners Jose Liba and Jelly Liba of Mambusao Capiz on Nov. 8, 2021, in the presence of the handling Social Workers of the said municipality.
Ma. Evelyn Macapobre, DSWD-6 regional director said the Liba couple’s case is their first approved case under RA 11222 in the region.”
“Simulation of birth refers to cases wherein a child’s record is tampered to make it appear that he/she was born to someone other than his/her biological mother,” she said.
Macapobre encouraged interested parties to take advantage of the law as it grants amnesty to the adoptive parents from any criminal liability if they express intent to legalize the adoption and to correct the simulated birth of the child which covers simulated births up to March 29, 2019.
“With this law, the rights, status and filiation of a child will be fixed and grants the benefits of adoption. We are continuously encouraging couples, who are considering child adoption, to undergo the legal procedures,” Macapobre said.
For the petitioners, RA 11222 was a heaven-sent privilege for parents like them.
“We are very thankful to the government and to DSWD for facilitating the legalization of our adoption to our child. We know well that what we did is against the law. Now that we have the approved papers for our child, we can assure that he could be legally recognized as our son and as our beneficiary. Filing under RA 11222, we can say that we are now an abiding citizen and can now sleep at night without any guilt or liability from the government on what we have done in the past,” Mr. Liba wise.
DSWD-6 asked parents who simulated a birth record of the child to come into open to correct and adopt the child whom they treated as their own.
This year, the agency has already recorded two Administrative Adoption cases approved under RA 11222 nationwide.
