THE National Authority for Child Care (NACC) has reiterated its call on Filipino families to adopt a child who is either abandoned or orphaned through the agency, to discourage online baby selling, and illegal adoption.

NACC Executive Director Undersecretary Janella Ejercito Estrada on Sunday reiterated the critical need for more families to adopt a child or to provide foster care for surrendered, abused, and exploited children in need of a family.

In a statement, Estrada emphasized the need for the children to grow up in a “normal setting in the loving arms of a safe and permanent family.”

In response to the proliferation of online baby selling, the NACC chief called on the public to report incidents of illegal adoption to the Philippine National Police, barangay (village), and other law enforcement agencies.

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As of August, the NACC said it was able to issue 1,311 and 449 orders for domestic and inter-country adoption, respectively; while 1,057 foster children are being cared for by licensed foster care parents.

Estrada encouraged the public to support administrative adoption and other forms of alternative child care and ensure the safety and interest of a child by rejecting all forms of illegal adoption, particularly the online selling of babies.

She revealed that there were over 23 Facebook groups engaged in baby selling since 2023.

“Due to the intensified campaign of the concerned agencies, they were reduced to just five FB groups but we have reports that they have again increased to a dozen now,” said Estrada, a former San Juan vice mayor and daughter of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

She lamented that they could not easily get those behind the online selling as they could quickly disengage by deleting their sites when they sense that law enforcement agencies are going after them.

“The NACC is now the principal agency that processes child adoption which could now be completed in over nine months unlike when it was under court proceedings that took years,” she told reporters.

Established in 2022 by virtue of Republic Act 11642, the NACC is an attached agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

As of June 13, 2025, the NACC, which has been in close partnership with accredited child caring agencies such as the Hospicio de San Jose and the Little Children’s Home, was able to develop 1,997 adoptive and foster care families.