Mayor Sara underscores Dabawenyo children’s welfare in SOCA

Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte underscored the City Government of Davao’s efforts in protecting the welfare and addressing the needs of Dabawenyo children.

During her Valedictory and State of the City Address (SOCA) livestreamed over the City Government of Davao Facebook page on March 17, 2022, Mayor Duterte said, “Children are among the top priorities of the City Government. We have a Quick Response Team for Children’s Concerns that rescues, investigates, and documents cases of abuse and sexual exploitation of children, and we run various shelters specific to the needs of children.”

She cited the Balay Dangupan for physically abused children; the Bahay Pag-Asa temporary shelter for children in conflict with the law (CICL); the Paginhawaan Drop-In Center for street children; and the Lingap Center for Mentally-Challenged Children.

The City Government of Davao, according to her, also operates various daycare and childminding centers providing daycare services for children of working parents. This resulted in the city being recognized as the 2021 national awardee for Gawad Paglilingkod Sa Sambayanan (GAPAS) for Model LGU Implementing Day Care Services by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on top of the Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities under the highly
urbanized city category that it has won five times. Davao City was elevated to the Hall of Fame in 2017.

“But caring for our children and providing for their needs must never stop,” the mayor added.

In 2020, the “Student Siblings Laptop and Tablet Sharing Project” was launched with 335 laptops and 1,380 tablets provided to indigent and qualified junior and senior public high schools for their online classes. Children from indigent families, indigent solo parents, or those living with indigent guardians benefited from the project.

Meanwhile, the construction of the P70-million facility for the Davao City Special Needs Intervention Center for Children recently started near People’s Park after the delays brought about by the pandemic. The landmark Sangguniang Panlungsod Ordinance No. 0230-20 for the establishment of the center was enacted in 2020. The center will provide free early intervention, occupational, speech, and physical therapy, and special education and transition programs to children and youth with special needs.

The first-of-its-kind facility, which is expected to be finished in early 2023, will include a physical therapy room, a swimming pool for aqua therapy, an occupational therapy sensory gym, a speech therapy room, an audio room, and special education rooms.

Mayor Duterte also said that the City Government of Davao boosted the existing mandated child protection and children’s welfare programs with the establishment of the Special Office for Children’s Concerns and the Kean Gabriel Hotline.

“Since its creation in 2016, the number of child abuse complaints decreased dramatically, and there has been no reported death of children due to physical abuse. We encourage everyone to immediately report any cases of child abuse through the hotline – 0908-818-4444,” she said. CIO