THE Davao City government is working on with an ordinance that would prevent youngsters from becoming children in conflict with the law (CICL).
The City Council Tuesday, March 19, passed on third and final reading the “Transformative Program for Children at Risk Ordinance of Davao City”, wherein children-at-risk (CAR), or those vulnerable of becoming in conflict with the law due to personal, family and social circumstances, will undergo interventions from the city government, through the City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO).
Councilor Maria Belen Sunga Acosta, one of the proponents of the ordinance, said that Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio personally asked if the City Council could craft an ordinance that would address the needs of these children.
“Sa kasamtangan, ang mga programs naka-focus lang sa mga CICL. Ang gusto ni mayor, sa dili pa mamahimong CICL ang usa ka bata, at risk pa lang siya, gitagaan na siya og intervention (At present, most programs are focused on the CICL. What the mayor wants is that before a children becomes a CICL, interventions should be made, since he/she is still at risk of becoming one),” Acosta said.
Children-at-risk, under the ordinance, include those abused through, sexual, physical, psychological, and mental or any means, coming from a broken family, being an out-of-school youth, being street children and those living in an armed-conflict area.
Acosta also said that the City Mayor’s Office will temporarily shoulder the construction of the facilities for the CAR programs, until a separate funding will be allocated in the City Annual and Supplemental Budget.
“Ideally, there should be one for every barangay. But considering that we have so many barangays in Poblacion District alone, it is already hard to achieve,” she said.
The councilor hopes that the ordinance would then decongest the number of children under the guidance of the Bahay Pag-asa, a transformational facility exclusively for CICL.