[larryman]

Dr.L from ICAB sent a personal Christmas Greeting together with information on their holiday office hour to me a prospective adoptive parent last year with all the many other e-mail links to the many adoption agencies, government bodies, private individuals, and even to The Prime Minister Department which ICAB are having e-mail correspondence with ! I wonder which country it is ! The ministry of Children and Family of the province we reside in Canada also included in that links of e-mails.According to the protocal established between Canada and the Philippines, communication route is done from ICAB to the provincial government to our agency and finally to us.It is quite a pleasent surprise to me.But somehow from the style of writing makes me wonder if it is actually coming from Dr.L.All those other e-mail links except one have absolutely nothing to do with our adoption case.

ICAB sends e-mail in this manner gives me a window opportunity of knowing whos and whos are ICAB clients with e-mail correspondence ! I think it is almost a complete list of their clients !Put it this way. Is each and every adoption case suppose to be private and confidential ?

Dr.L of ICAB addresses this holiday office hour e-mail To All ICAB Partners.Is Partner also equals prospective adoptive parents according to ICAB ?

[johnny]

I'm not surprised, just taking a look at ICAB's web site they could really use some help. A programmer’s salary is anywhere from P4,000-P8,000 a month. ICAB is not income generating, so I wouldn't be surprised if the budget is next to nothing. Heck, even the income generating departments have computer budgets next to nothing. So they probably don't even have the option on their email to send blind copies.

[johnny]

Shoot... even the web site is on the ISP's site instead of the DSWD domain. http://www.skyinet.net/~icaba

http://www.gov.ph/govlinks/officeofpres_departments.asp
This should be thier link:
http://www.dswd.gov.ph/icab.htm

[cungar]

I noticed that too. It looks like HTML from 1997. Also made me think about what kind of funding they have. I'll gladly build them a better site if they speed up my adoption process

[larryman]

Programmer salary is not very much in the Philippines.A web designer earn more than four times as much !

[johnny]

What makes ya think they even have a programmer?

[orphanagemom]

I know for a fact that they don't have a computer programmer, a web designer, or any funding if the government decides to do something else with it!!
Jen

[eastcoast]

Maybe they could auction some of Imelda's shoes to pay for a computer person

For those of you who don't see the humor, I lived there during Marcos regime. It was brutal.

[larryman]

If ICAB does not have e-mail nor a computer, how come they have such a comprehensive website included with all the names in their organization and the many links to other webpage such as the Hague. They also have the ability to send multiple e-mails in one short.This is how I get may be all of their clients with e-mails with a interesting one from THE PRIME MINISTER DEPARTMENT all in capital block letters. I wonder which country it is !

All I can say is that ICAB has recently broken all the protocal established with the province in Canada where I reside incorporated in their rules and regulations.Some one in ICAB office is playing "games" on Dr.L computer totally without her knowledge when Dr.L is not in the office !

[orphanagemom]

I never said they don't have computers or email. They simply don't use it much, and they don't typically respond to emails. All the people that work there share the same email address, so many many many times if it gets picked up by one person, they don't get it to the person it was meant for. This is why I have stated over and over again to any who asks..."don't email them, send a letter"!!!
And, Dr. L. does not have her own email!!!!!!!!!!! I know many things get frustrating, but you are constantly comparing a 3rd world country to your own. They are a completely different culture, a different people, and they run by a very different tune. Work is not the same there. They don't have the same drive to get things done. I've visited with many of them. One person there said he even tried to stop our adoption from going through, because he thought it was too fast - he said this directly to me. You never know whats going to happen, but if it was meant to be for you to adopt, God will make it happen.

[larryman]

Please do excuse me for not understanding some of your reasoning.I received the unexpected seasons greeting from ICAB and while forwarding to my agency, I saw the many e-mail addresses , at least 50 of them, from all over the world including a number of them from Australian government, quite a number of individuals, and a number of adoption agencies who are totally unrelated to our adoption case in the Philippines.Also it happened recently that ICAB has directly correspond to us by e-mail rather than corresponding to the Government Ministry with the protocal ICAB established with our government.

This has nothing to do with being in a third world country for my wife and I grew up in those region and know exactly what life is like to the average citizen living there.It is all about the protocal ICAB established with the many countries and the communication channel they are operating on.For adoptive parents like us, we are not clients of ICAB, we are clients of the adopion agency in the country we resided.