Former Executive Director, National Authority for Child Care

Ms. Bernadette Abejo is a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law class of 1990, Social Work in 2016 at the UP Open University. She was the Executive Director of the National Authority for Child Care formerly the Intercountry Adoption Board (ICAB) , the Philippine Central Authority on the 1993 Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption from 2008 to 2022. She attended the 5th session Seminar for Advanced Studies in Public and Private International Law on “The Protection of the Child in International Law” at the Academy of International Law in The Hague on June 14 to 20, 2009. She is a consultant of the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on the Permanent Bureau’s Intercountry Adoption Technical Assistance Program (ICATAP). She has provided practical advice on the crafting of and implementation of the Hague Convention of 1993 for Asian countries on the structure and functions of the Central Authorities of the sending countries. She has provided legal advice on the internal regulations pertaining to intercountry adoption procedure and processes. She chaired the 4th Special Commission of The Hague Intercountry Convention held on June 8 to 12, 2015, chaired the committee on financial aspects of intercountry adoption and was a member of the special committee on illicit practices on Intercountry adoption at the Hague Permanent Bureau.