BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-CAR) and chairperson of the Juvenile Justice Welfare Committee (JJWC) in the region urged the City Council to immediately pass upon the 3 to 5 year Comprehensive Local Juvenile Intervention Program (CLJIP) of the city because of the urgency of the plan in the provision of technical support and resources by the concerned agencies to the local government.
DSWD-CAR regional director and JJWC-CAR chairperson Janet P. Armas, who appeared before the local legislative body’s regular session Monday, informed local legislators that the deadline for the submission of the CLJIP to the JJWC-CAR already lapsed last November and Baguio City is one of the local government that have not yet submitted the required plan.
She revealed that the City Social Welfare and Development Office was able to present a draft of the city’s CLJIP in a previous workshop on the finalization of the city situation analysis on children in conflict with the law and children-at-risk in the Cordillera but it is still subject to finalization and subsequent submission to the local legislative body for approval.
“We need the city’s approved CJLIP because it is one of the requirements to support the local government’s application for the release of funds to be used to put up the requested Bahay Pag-asa. We hope that we will have the city’s CJLIP approved the soonest,” Armas stressed.
The DSWD-CAR regional director and JJWC-CAR chairperson said the 3 to 5-year CJLIP template was already submitted to the City Social Welfare and Development office for the inclusion of the situationaire in the city regarding the state of children in conflict of the law and children-at-risk to serve as a basis in the provision of technical assistance and resources by concerned government agencies.
Under the law, local governments are mandated to formulate their CJLIP and subsequently allocate at least 1 percent of their Internal Revenue Allotment IRA) for the implementation of programs and projects related to child protection among other related interventions.
Armas underscored that the needs of the children can no longer wait that is why there is also a need for the local governments to craft their CJLIP to provide the appropriate interventions in addressing the issues and concerns confronting the children not only in the region but also in the national level.
She claimed that the action of the local legislative body in passing a resolution requesting the City |Social Welfare and Development Office to submit the required CJLIP within 15 days after its approval will definitely help in fastracking the finalization of the plan for eventual submission to the council for approval in the future.
Armas committed the support of the various government agencies comprising the JJWC to the implementation of the approved CJLIP considering that the same is an inter-agency body tasked to oversee the implementation of programs and projects geared towards the protection of children from potential abuses by adults among others. Aside from the DSWD that chairs the JJWC, other agencies that are members of the committee include the Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local government, Commission on Human Rights, Philippine National Police, among others. By Dexter A. See
