THE Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 endorsed initiatives for safer, more resilient school buildings and effective strategies against human trafficking during its full council meeting for the first quarter of 2024.
RDC 7 Social Development Committee chairperson Dr. Profetiza Lim endorsed projects for safer schools under the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Infrastructure for Safer and Resilient Schools (ISRS), seeking to integrate efforts that will address the physical recovery and enhance the resiliency of disaster-affected school infrastructure in the region.
Lim told the RDC 7 members during their meeting at the Cebu Provincial Capitol, Cebu City last March 14 that the ISRS projects are to be implemented in disaster-prone regions in the country like Central Visayas, which groups the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor. The most recent disaster that hit Central Visayas happened in December 2021 when typhoon Odette devastated parts of the region, destroying infrastructure including school buildings.
Human trafficking
The RDC 7 also demonstrated a unified stance against human trafficking by supporting the localization of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
Lim endorsed to the full council the implementation of programs and projects that will uphold legal measures designed to safeguard marginalized communities.
Republic Act (RA) 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, was amended by RA 10364 in 2012 and then by RA 11862 in 2022 to provide better protection for trafficked individuals.
Lim said their aim is to institute policies that will eliminate trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in the region.
The RDC 7 called on local government units to pass ordinances that follow the law against human trafficking. / MA. ANNA PRIMERO, BIPSU INTERN