Video: Lea Salonga Sings for Adoption Advocacy Campaign

Manila, Philippines, September 19, 2013--The advocates behind the legal adoption advocacy and awareness campaign "I Love You, Anak" (I Love You, Child) the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) and marketing communications company McCann Worldgroup have recently tapped Tony winner Lea Salonga to sing the English version of the campaign song "I Love You, Anak," which was originally written with Tagalog lyrics and sung by Original Pilipino Music (OPM) President Ogie Alcasid during the campaign's launch November last year.

"I was asked and I said yes. Simple as that," Salonga, who is also an ambassador for the child sponsorship organization World Vision, told BroadwayWorld.com.

The catchy campaign theme song, composed by McCann Philippines, encourages people to view adoptive children as recipients of familial love that sees beyond differences.

According to DSWD, nearly 500 kids in orphanages were legally up for adoption last year alone. However, only 62 of these orphans were adopted by Filipino families.

"There are so many children in orphanages and other child-caring agencies waiting to be adopted. But families hold back on adoption because of its stigma," said DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman at the campaign's launch.

Posted on the campaign's official website: "I Love You, Anak" is "a continuous commitment to turn adoptive families into adoption ambassadors. The campaign has mounted numerous events to give families a venue to share their beautiful stories. From a family picnic in a public playground to an open concert in Bonifacio Global City [Manila], families took the stage and took pride in their special love."

For more information, visit iloveyouanak.com.