BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance raising the quality, value, and extent of barangay day care centers in the city.
The ordinance, authored by Councilor Leandro B. Yangot, Jr., stated that the measure will cover the children that attend barangay day care centers within the city.
Under the proposal, the local government shall provide the basic needs to every day care pupil, which will not be limited to textbooks, regular school uniforms, physical education uniforms, prescribed work books, school supplies, rain coats, rain boots, hygiene kits, tables and chairs for kids, educational text books, manuals, and miscellaneous needs.
Further, the local government shall provide day care centers with audio-visual equipment and instructional materials as well as other learning materials, including educational toys, game boards, and class cards among others.
Yangot proposed that a technical working group (TWG) will be created and shall be composed of the City mayor as chairperson, the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) Officer as co-chairperson and action officer. Its members will be the City Administrator, the president of the Liga ng mga Barangay, the chairperson or representative of the Committee on Education, the chairperson of the Committee on Social Services, a representative of Women and Urban Poor, and the chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations.
The proposed ordinance added the TWG may coordinate with other local departments and agencies for the implementation of the ordinance when necessary.
The CSWD Office shall serve as the lead agency and implementing office, being the office equipped with the data, technical matters and expertise with regard to the said matter.
Yangot said all purchases made in accordance with the measure shall be pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act 9184, otherwise known as the government Procurement Reform Act, to make sure the supplies and materials to be procured are of quality standards.
He claimed that the local government will be appropriating funds from the city’s Special Education Fund (SEF), in addition to other local funds, to be used for the uplift of the barangay day care centers in the city.
Likewise, the local government shall appropriate funds from its supplemental budget to provide additional support to early childhood development programs in the city subject to all necessary legal, budgetary, accounting and auditing procedures and the city, through the CSWD Office, shall also generate funds from inter-governmental donors and financial institutions to support the programs, including the urban poor.
Pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations as well as local ordinances, the local government shall undertake the holistic protection and development of the children, together with government agencies, both national and local, and non-governmental organizations concerned.
In the exercise of its police power and the general welfare clause of the Local Government Code, the local legislative body shall exercise the powers necessary for its efficient and effective governance by laying down ordinances, among others, to promote the general welfare of its constituents. By Dexter A. See
