A humane act for orphans

We see them everywhere: Children (some with even younger children on their backs) moving from vehicle to vehicle in traffic, begging. Children huddled in alleys and sidewalks, many sniffing glue from plastic bags. Children sorting trash in garbage dumps, searching for scraps. Children raising mayhem at night, battling rival gangs, and alarming neighborhoods.

Then there are the hidden children: Abandoned to fend for themselves, many exploited by their very own parents who sell their young bodies to pedophiles across the globe, the abused, ignorant, and starving.

Many of these unfortunate youngsters are orphans, with no adult relations or concerned relatives or neighbors. Many more may live with their parents, but are in effect orphans so ineffective, if not cruel, is the sort of care bestowed upon them.

This depicts precisely what the National Authority for Child Care (NACC) has called an “orphan crisis,” citing the growing number of children under child-caring agencies and residential care facilities nationwide. It is, said the Philippines Orphanage Foundation, “a situation worth crying over.”

Against this backdrop, one has to wonder why the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) acted so precipitously and harshly against the Gentle Hands Inc. (GHI), a private entity that runs an orphanage and care home in Quezon City and Bulacan.

Based on a complaint by a lone informant, officials of the DSWD and armed police swooped down on Gentle Hands last Saturday and, based on a “cease-and-desist order,” took away 127 children residing in the facility. A DSWD official alleged that 22 (or 23) children were earlier spirited away to another Gentle Hands facility in Bulacan.

Later, in a news conference in Malacañang, newly confirmed DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the raiding team had found evidence of overcrowding (the orphanage allegedly is allowed to accommodate only 80 children) and safety concerns such as blocked fire exits and the lack of adult supervisors.

These are not enough reasons to shut down Gentle Hands and take away the children, GHI executive director Charity Heppner Graff said. A counsel for the foundation also disputed the allegations hurled against the orphanage, while other child-care authorities, including the Commission on Human Rights, questioned the manner of the raid which they said resulted in “trauma” for the children.

One can’t help sharing in their apprehension. Reports said the children were taken to various child-care facilities run by authorities. But knowing how neglected the wards in these facilities are, the public could not be blamed for wondering if the children in GHI were simply thrown from the frying pan to the fire.

For sure, the government is obligated to ensure the safety, health, welfare, proper education, and values formation promised by private (and state) institutions. After all, it would be so easy for unscrupulous individuals to take advantage of their wards, either by forced labor, or worse, child trafficking.

Already, the government has endeavored to make legal adoption easier, less costly, and less time-consuming. This would ensure that more children would be adopted by couples who desire to raise children, preferably within our borders, who would grow up to be productive citizens and proud Filipinos. There is also foreign adoption, although the state is obligated to ensure that all safeguards are in place to protect the most helpless and innocent of our citizens from becoming possible victims of human trafficking.

Indeed, the NACC is a creation of Republic Act No. 11642, also known as the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, passed last January. Shortening the process of adoption from as long as two to three years to only six months, the law, said Sen. Risa Hontiveros who shepherded it through the chamber, “is a win for our children, but most especially for adoptive parents.”

Meanwhile, the “orphan crisis” is growing ever more alarming. Gentle Hands, so say reports, is trying to meet the requirements of the DSWD, including reducing the number of beds available to young residents and clearing obstructions and fire hazards. But even as you read this, even more orphans are being created, either because of the growing number of neglectful parents (many of them adolescents), natural calamities that take a toll on families, abandonment, and exploitation.

Instead of cracking down on so-called violations of laws and regulations, perhaps the time and resources of government would be better spent trying to seek the placement of more orphans with loving families and facilitating the process of getting both orphaned children and childless couples together. Finding homes for these forgotten children is the more urgent task.