MANILA, Philippines – Why do TV dramas and soap operas often portray adopted children as abused or maltreated by their adoptive parents? Or why are they often depicted as kids forced to perform heavy chores in the orphanage?

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) wants telenovela writers to get rid of these “negative” themes, and portray adoption positively.

“Kailangan malinaw sa pag-iisip ng mga gumagawa ng mga teledrama scripts na hindi kabawasan sa pagkatao ng bata na siya ay ampon. Ang pag-aampon ay mahalaga dahil malaki ang inilalaang pagmamahal ng magulang sa kanyang batang inampon,” DSWD Sec Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said in a statement released Saturday, March 24.

(It should be clear for writers of teledrama scripts that being adopted doesn’t make them lesser persons. Adoption is important because an adoptive parent offers a huge amount of affection for his or her adopted child.)

This was Soliman’s message to scriptwriters and producers from ABS-CBN, GMA-7, and TV5 during a recent DSWD media forum.

A number of social workers, on the other hand, have discouraged mothers from having their children adopted primarily due to poverty. “Ipinapaliwanag namin sa kanila, hindi lahat ay nabibiyayaan ng anak,” a head social worker told Rappler.

(We explain to them, not everybody is blessed with a child.)

Raising awareness

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chair Grace Poe Llamanzares, who also addressed TV practitioners, stressed the role of the media in raising public awareness about adoption.

“It is high time that the responsibility and benefits of adoption are highlighted, instead of negative stereotypes that are often associated with it,” Poe said.

The DSWD has recently boosted its campaign for legal adoption, with the agency having capped Adoption Consciousness Week last February.

“The DSWD is advocating legal adoption to provide stable homes to the growing of number who are orphaned, abandoned, or neglected and who are in need of families who will love, care, and protect them,” Soliman earlier said.

The agency has posted the requirements and procedures for legal adoption on its website. – Rappler.com