DAVAO City is putting premium effort in championing the rights and welfare of the children, thus, it was declared as a Hall of Famer awardee for Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities (PACFMC) for Highly Urbanized City Category after bagging the award for the fifth time.

The city won the award in 1998, 1999, 2013, 2014 and 2015 for empowering the children through the various programs to educate and nurture them. The award is the national government’s way to recognize the collective efforts of people in the local government units (LGUs) who worked hard to promote children’s rights.

But what does it take to be a child-friendly city?

Gina Mulon, Child Focal of the Davao City Social Service and Development Office (CSSDO) said that the collaborative efforts of the different stakeholders in Davao City, paved the way for this achievement.

It was also a factor that the city has strong implementation of the laws and ordinances that protects the rights of children. The leadership of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has also put emphasis on giving attention for the protection of children by allocating enough budget for the implementation and sustain the programs intended for the children.