THE National Authority for Child Care (NACC) has called on the public to reject all forms of illegal adoption, including “online baby selling,” and instead support legal and ethical processes such as administrative adoption and foster care.
In a live-streamed discussion on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, held in observance of the Philippine Adoption and Alternative Child Care Week (AACCW), NACC Undersecretary Janella Ejercito Estrada revealed that the agency has monitored at least 12 Facebook groups facilitating online child placements, collectively followed by over 200,000 users.
“Let this be a warning. Illegal adoption poses a threat against the welfare and safety of a child,” Estrada said.
“A child may be trafficked for either sexual abuse or exploitation, child labor, or even organ harvesting. This is why we need the help of the public, especially Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs), to reject all forms of illegal adoption and curb ‘online baby selling,’” she added.
She assured that there is no need to resort to these risky practices, noting that the government has made legal processes more accessible.
“All government programs and services on adoption and alternative child care have been made simpler, faster and less costly because the NACC does not collect any fees in relation to adoption and foster care,” Estrada added.
Adoption orders
The NACC, established under Republic Act (RA) 11642, or the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, is a one-stop, quasi-judicial agency under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
It oversees all forms of alternative child care, including domestic and inter-country adoption, kinship care, foster care and residential care.
As part of its information campaign, the NACC is leading this year’s third annual AACCW celebration, held every second week of June, to raise awareness and promote long-term family-based care for children in need.
“Let us give hope and home for every abandoned, neglected, dependent, surrendered, foundlings, orphaned, abused and exploited children. We encourage everyone to go out and participate in our nationwide Philippine AACCW celebration,” Estrada said.
Among the activities conducted nationwide were the BISIG-Kleta and Fun Run for a Cause, which drew over 6,300 participants, including adoptive and foster families, advocates and social workers.
The agency also installed adoption and foster care help desks in major malls across the country to guide interested families.
To date, the NACC has issued 1,063 domestic Orders of Adoption, facilitated 418 inter-country adoptions and developed 1,997 adoptive and foster care families.
A total of 1,075 children are currently under the Philippine Foster Care Program.
The agency also strengthened its local reach through partnerships with 89 local government units, signed during the 1st National Congress on Adoption and Alternative Child Care last year.
These agreements aim to enhance local support systems for adoptive and foster families.
Meanwhile, the Regional Alternative Child Care Office (Racco) 7 reported a total of 121 successful adoptions from 2022 to 2025, according to social worker Jeraldin Mendoza during a Kapihan sa PIA forum held Wednesday, June 18.
Racco 7 data show that 10 Orders of Adoption were issued in 2023, 64 in 2024 and 47 in 2025.
Life imprisonment
In the same forum, Racco 7 officials reminded the public against engaging in “adopt-adopt” or independent placements, which refer to informal adoption setups without government or social worker involvement.
Legal officer Jewel Alberca said such arrangements are punishable under RA 7610 and may constitute qualified human trafficking.
“This is involving a child, man, so that’s why it’s qualified. And since it is qualified trafficking, the penalty is life imprisonment and not less than a P2 million fine,” said Alberca.
Alberca said independent placement usually occurs when birthparents entrust a child to someone — whether a relative or not — without undergoing the legal adoption process.
Mendoza clarified that care by close relatives does not fall under independent placement.
Under the Family Code of the Philippines, the child’s nearest next of kin may be considered for adoption as part of the government’s family preservation principle.
Before moving forward with adoption, Mendoza said Racco 7 and its partners such as the DSWD must first exhaust all efforts to locate the child’s biological family or next of kin.
From 2022 to 2025, Racco 7 has recorded 166 children declared Available for Adoption — a classification that includes those abandoned, neglected, voluntarily surrendered, involuntarily surrendered through court orders, or from informal placements. / CDF, With a report from Ruyz Angela Lois Mañacap, CNU Intern