Monday, December 22, 2008 Olongapo, Mariveles win as CL's child-friendly LGUs By Emma C. Tabalanza
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Olongapo City bagged the Presidential Award in the recently concluded Presidential Search for Child Friendly Cities and Municipalities in the highly urbanized city category.
Mariveles, Bataan won in the first to third class category.
Director Minda Brigoli of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Luzon and concurrent chairperson of the Regional Sub-Committee for the Welfare of Children (RSCWC) said the annual search for child-friendly cities/municipalities which started in 1998 aims to institutionalize a child-friendly environment and government towards promoting and protecting a child's survival, development, protection and participation.
She declared that it specifically aims to give national recognition to cities and municipalities that have been considered child-friendly and to encourage local government units (LGUs) to prioritize and address issues and concerns affecting the full realization of the rights of children, monitor and evaluate the implementation of programs and services.
Aside from the winners, Brigoli said the other nominees for the three categories are Tarlac City for the component city category; Anao, Tarlac for the fourth to sixth class category and Plaridel for the first to third class category.
Meanwhile, Teresa Villa, Social Welfare Officer of DSWD-Central Luzon and concurrent focal person of RSWC in the region said the validating committee came up with the following assessment on the winners per category:
Olongapo City was a national awardee as 2006 and 2007 best police office; regional winner, 2007 Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran, panglunsod category, Highly Urbanized City Cluster; regional and national winner, best City Disaster Coordinating Council Award; and Regional and National Gawad Kalasag Award for 2006 and 2007; Lupon Tagapamayapa incentive awards for highly-urbanized city cluster; Lupon Tagapamayapa national awardee, Barangay Baretto; first runner-up disaster management office; Gawad Kalasag, functional City Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC); Sentrong Sigla Awardee; Regional Awardee for the Child Friendly City, highly-urbanized category for 2006.
Olongapo also has a Home for Girls, a Home for Abandoned Children, a Home for distressed senior citizens, a Home for Children and Home for Victims of Violence Against Women and Children's Act (VAWC) and Helps program of Mayor James "Bong "Gordon that caters for the social, educational, livelihood, housing, health and environmental sanitation of life particularly for the total development of children as well as their service providers.
Mariveles, on the other hand, has a separate plan for children, a certified Sentrong Sigla awardee, with a functional Municipal Council for the Protection of Children (MCPC), and a Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC), 60 percent of birth registration due to mobile registration at the barangay level, available documents of activities per sector/unit, 100 percent child participation, child-friendly day care and health centers and school facilities and available programs and facilities intended for children, active youth organization, with best practices inculcating the idea of 4 Cs.
The validating teams and awards committee for child-friendly cities/municipalities in Region 3 are from the DSWD, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Justice (DOJ), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) National Economic and Development (Neda), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), National Statistics Office (NSO), Tatag, Preda, National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Luznet.
