Taguig hailed as child-friendly, child-sensitive city

The Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) has recognized Taguig City as a child-friendly and child-sensitive place.

Taguig City was awarded with the 2015 Seal of “Child-Friendly Local Governance” during the Regional Awarding and Conferment ceremony in Mandaluyong City on 22 January 2016.

For two consecutive years now, Taguig City has ranked among the top cities in protecting children’s rights and upholding the welfare of children through various programs.

The child-friendly local governance seal indicates the consistent commitment of the Taguig local government in promoting child rights to survival, development, protection and participation.

Mayor Lani Cayetano is proud and thankful to get the seal for the child-friendly local governance.

“I commend our social workers, our doctors down to our health volunteers, our policemen, and barangays for serving and protecting our children. It is a job well done. Our children’s rights to healthcare, education and welfare are top  priorities in  Taguig. We create ordinances for their welfare and get them involve and participate in our programs” Mayor Lani stated. ###

Included in the list of the city government programs that address the needs of the children is the highly successful Lifeline Assistance for Neighbors In-Need (LANI) Scholarship Program aimed at helping poor students get quality education. In just four years, the scholarship program has assisted 30,000 scholars. It started with a P100 million scholarship fund and every year since 2011, the budget  has increased by P100 million. It now stands at P600 Million.

In the health sector, the Taguig City Health Office prides itself in implementing programs to protect infants from diseases.

“To keep our children healthy, we also need to protect and educate their mothers. We launched Buntis Congress to promote safe motherhood. It also encouraged breastfeeding, immunization and family planning. This way, we, alongside with the mothers, can protect their children from diseases,” the City Health Office’s head Dr. Isaias Ramos said.

Last year, the city-run Taguig Pateros District Hospital (TPDH) got the “baby-friendly hospital” seal after it passed the strict standards set by the Department of Health. TPDH now boasts of having the city’s own milk bank.

The city government has also scored high in the fight against malnutrition having won the Green Banner award for two consecutive years.

Other city health programs that prioritize children’s health care are the free HIV test and Service Delivery Network which refers patients from health centers to other hospitals and foundations that can finance chemotherapy and other treatments.

The early child development program is also strong in Taguig. Currently, the City Social Welfare Office operates 134 day-care centers  teaching  children and preparing them for primary school.

The city government also provides Cyber Laboratory or I.T. Rooms for elementary and high school students to get an edge to the digital world. The city has renovated and constructed school buildings now popularly called “cool schools” because of the air-conditioning units provided by the city government.

The city is also heavily involved in implementing intervention programs concerning Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL). The  Women and Children’s Desk of the Taguig City Police Station actively protects the rights of the CICL. According to Chief Insp. Ma. Edna Catilogo, they made sure that the rights of a child are highly prioritized in her office. Together with the City Social Welfare and Development, they protect both the victim and the respondent especially if they are both minors.

“We are also active in conducting seminars to our barangay units to strictly implement the curfew ordinance. Through the curfew implementation we can minimize the risk to children being exposed to crimes and accidents” Catilogo added. ###