BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance institutionalizing October 17-23 of every year as the National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty (NWOEP) in the city, creating an appropriate committee and appropriating funds for the said purpose.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Lilia A. Farinas stated that the official observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is traced back to October 17, 1987 when over a hundred thousand people from all walks of life gathered at the Plaza of Human Rights and Liberties in Paris, France to honor the victims of extreme poverty, hunger, violence and ignorance.
Further, the people gathered in response to the appeal of Fr. Joseph Wresinski, a French Catholic priest and founder of All Together in Dignity Fourth World Movement and they proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that the said rights are respected.
On the said day, defenders of human and civil rights from every continent gathered and paid homage to the victims of hunger, ignorance and violence and affirmed their conviction that human misery is inevitable.
The ordinance added that it will be a declared policy of the local government that beginning October 17 of every year, which is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, until the 23rd of the same month, shall be the National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty in the city and that the local government shall adopt the national programs designed for its purpose and prepare such activities that may be consistent and compensatory for its success.
Among the purposes of the ordinance is to make the public aware of the week-long commemoration and instill in them the virtues and principles espoused by the observance which is the refusal of extreme poverty and the respect of human rights, dignity and freedom; to support the international campaign to end extreme poverty; to recognize and appreciate the various initiatives of poor communities and local government units in uplifting the lives of poor Filipinos and to invite more stakeholders to join in the fight against poverty and build a critical mass to ensure a greater chance of effectively eradicating poverty at the soonest possible time.
The ordinance mandated the creation of the NWOEP which shall be composed of the City Mayor as chairperson and the Chairperson of the Committee on Social Services, Women and Urban Poor as vice chairperson and the Chairperson of the Committee on Barangay Affairs and Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president, the Chairperson of the Committee on Employment, Livelihood and Cooperatives, the City Social Welfare and Development officer, the City Health Services Officer, the Association of City Executives, the president of the association of urban poor in Baguio and other agencies or persons that may be deemed necessary as members.
The NWOEP committee shall formulate the program of activities for the celebration; collate an inventory of policies, programs, projects and other poverty alleviation measures of the local government; provide a link between the committee, public and private sectors and recommend legislative measures, policies and programs to the members for implementation.
By Dexter A. See