LGUs' Role in Creating Child-Friendly Urban Cities - Department of ...

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The MMDA says more than half a million families live in informal settlements. / If you use ADB data, that number goes up to almost three-fourths of a million. / Around 41% of that figure lives in informal settlements on government lands, 34% on private lands, 21% in dangerous areas. IPC figures show there are around two million children who are systematically deprived of their rights in Metro Manila. / We see many of them on the streets every day. / They lack access to health services, good toilets, quality education, and a chance to live a normal childhood. / It’s pointless to discuss with them whether they have “go, grow, and glow” in their diets. / Proper nutrition is not pertinent in their daily conversations, / but hunger is / because their one big question is how to eat three times a day. Local governments can do many things to change these deplorable conditions, / especially when it comes to children / who live with constant threats of demolition and distant relocation. / The DILG recognizes the need for LGUs to providing shelter that are not only affordable, / but also create communities where the young can flourish and not be scared of constant demolition. This will require a holistic approach for resettlement / that will not pluck families away from their sources of income. / The DILG is advocating for densified onsite redevelopment or in-city relocation, / which has legal basis in the Constitution, in the Local Government Code, and in the Urban Development and Housing Act. / The President has already approved our proposal for prioritization of onsite or in- city redevelopment. / We are taking a multi-stakeholder track that recognizes the role of non-government, community-based, and sectoral organizations’ participation / in solving the problem of informal settlers in cities. / DILG is also looking into structures that protect the rights of children. / The Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC) is crucial in pushing the
entire country towards the lofty goals of the National Framework Plan Development for Children or Child 21. / With the passage of RA 9344, otherwise known as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, / LCPCs are placed front and center of creating child-friendly communities. Our latest Memorandum Circular strengthens the LCPC further / by strictly monitoring its functionality. / The country has a total of 43,739 LGUs. / Of this number, only 84% have reorganized LCPCs. / Our assessment for 2010 indicates that on average, / only seven of the 16 regions (excluding ARMM) have councils at the provincial level that are fully functional, / only ten at the city level, / one at the municipal level / and none at all at the barangay level. These figures raise a lot of hot-button issues in the issue of child protection. / The problem is that LCPCs do not have adequate budgetary support / unlike the Local School Board and other councils. / One percent of IRA is too small for persons everybody calls the future leaders of this country. / If the Mayor feels generous, he can use his Economic Development Fund for programs that benefit children like rural health centers and school workbooks / but we can’t leave the welfare of children to big “ifs.” LGUs who have met the criteria for the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) are expected to use the money for projects that will help the country meet the Millenium Development Goals. / More than 300 LGUs, 17 cities, and 4 provinces have close to 400 million pesos to divide among their priority programs. / The DILG can ask its field people to encourage LGUs to prioritize programs for creating child-friendly cities, / but we need your help to lobby and send proposals to LGUs so that the money is not spent on basketball courts. /There is still time to advocate for children’s rights; you have 23 days to go before September 15.
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LGUs' Role in Creating Child-Friendly Urban Cities - Department of ...

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