CAR RCWC eyes good practices of Olongapo for children

CAR RCWC eyes good practices of Olongapo for children

'It's changing the image of Olongapo that made us a consistent national winner for the most child-friendly city under the highly-urbanized city category for the past three consecutive years'.

Thus said Olongapo City Administrator Ferdi M. Magrata during the exposure trip of the technical working group of the Cordillera Regional Committee for the Welfare of Children (RCWC) in Olongapo City last December 18.

The RCWC-TWG visited Olongapo to see for themselves the good practices implemented for the welfare of children. Baguio City got 95.1% under highly urbanized city category last year but fell short to be the national awardee for the presidential search for most child-friendly city.

"Being the most child-friendly city of Olongapo is not a matter of accident," Magrata said. "We made it to the point that all the mandates of the City Social Welfare and Development Office of Olongapo, as far as the national social welfare and development program is concerned, are implemented in a holistic approach," he said.

All programs for elderly, persons with disabilities (PWDs), vagrants, children in conflict wit the law (CICL), women and other sectors are well-planned and coordinated, he said.

Jean Okubo of the Cordillera Parents Federation, Inc., a non-government organization partner of RCWC, also appreciated the sense of volunteerism inspired by the leadership of Olongapo. "It is a very sustaining factor that made the whole program for children worked," she said.

She also noted the strong sense of leadership and focus on children as factors in making Olongapo the most child-friendly city nationwide.

Ofelia Claudio, DILG focal person for RCWC, after seeing the good practices of Olongapo for children suggested to further train local government officials from provincial down to barangay levels on how to implement programs for children.

Aside from putting up strong Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC), Olongapo also prides itself for having a Center for Women that caters to the needs of abused women by empowering them through life skills and livelihood projects.

Magrata considered the exposure trip of RCWC-Cordillera as an opening up of perspective on both cities on how they could improve their services for children.

When we come to visit Baguio, tell us your good practices for children so that we could further improve ours, Magrata said.

The RCWC, composed of various line government agencies and partner NGOs in the Cordillera, works for the proper and efficient implementation of the early childhood care and development for the survival, participation, development and protection of children.

RCWC and the Regional Early Childhood Care and Development Coordinating Committee had implemented various advocacy programs, policy formulation, and projects for second semester of 2007such as the 1st Cordillera Children and Youth Conference, capacity building for day care workers and trainers, revision of day care manual and ECCD checklist, Benguet Provincial Day Care Workers Convention, search for child friendly municipalities and cities, ECCD site-validations, and monitoring of 6th Country Program for Children (CPC 6).

Lined up activities of the RCWC for the first quarter of 2008 are conventions to strengthen Local Council for the Protection of Children, joint Local State of Children's Report (LSCR), and writeshops for the Local Code for children. (by Alf Tulagan - PIA-CAR)