Mayor Inday Sara Duterte has approved the allocation of P40 million to fund the construction of a care center for children with special needs.
“We already have a source for the forty million. It will be coming from the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF),” Mayor Sara said. She further committed to releasing the funds once everything – building plan and site will be completed.
The move to establish the childcare center came after city officials saw the need to also cater the children with special needs.
“There are a lot of children with special needs who cannot afford a therapy that a private institution can give,” Sara said.
Sara said the facility will be designed after that of Valenzuela City in Metro Manila.
“For now we are still looking for a place where we can build the facility. The real property task force is already looking for a convenient place that will be accessible to the people,” she added.
Councilor Antoinette Principe, who pushed for the establishment of the childcare center, said early childhood intervention is vital for children with special needs.
“From ages 0 to 8 years old, these are the ages that intervention is very vital. Through early intervention, their social skills will improve and they can go to school as well,” she said.
As a mother who has a child with special needs, Principe said she knows the challenges of going to different clinics for the therapy of her son.
Principe said that transferring from one clinic to another creates concerns since traveling can be stressful for the children.
She said that with the proposed facility, it will be like a “one-stop-shop for children with special needs.”
“The proposed center will have various therapy sessions and intervention classes in one building to help the children with special needs and also the parents, who do not have enough finances to cater to the needs of their children with special needs,” Principe said.
She said the special early intervention and the care the children would receive will prepare them to take up basic education in DepEd-managed SPED learning centers.
Principe also wanted the center to offer free services especially for the children with poor families. CIO
