MANILA, Philippines -- The government's Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) has yet to receive an inquiry or an application from Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to adopt a Filipino baby.
An ICAB official told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) in a phone interview that adoptions by prospective foreign parents are made through a government agency in their home countries or non-government organizations accredited by ICAB.
"As of today [Monday], there has been no inquiry on how to adopt [a Filipino child] or application to adopt from this couple," the ICAB official said, referring to Jolie and Pitt.
The ICAB official, who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak to the media, said that all prospective parents, including international celebrities, would have to go through the procedures set by the Philippine Domestic and Inter-Country Adoption Law.
ICAB is an attached agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Prescy Villa of the DSWD public information office also told the Inquirer by phone that her office "has no knowledge" if Jolie and Pitt have made inquiries about adopting a Filipino baby.
Among the important factors taken into consideration is the prospective parents' "motivation for adoption," the ICAB official said.
"We are looking for the best family for the child and not the other way around," the official said.
Some 500 Filipino children had been adopted by foreign parents in 2008, an increase from previous years after a number of countries had closed down their adoption programs.
However, placement of Filipino children in foreign families is a "last resort" as the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption puts primacy on the adoption of children within their own country of origin, according to the ICAB official.
In any case, Brangelina can check out the ICAB's website (www.icab.gov.ph) if they're truly interested in adopting a Filipino baby to be their seventh child.
