City First Lady's advocacy gets top PNP recognition
IJWA as PNP's partner is NGO of the Year awardee
Advocacy efforts of the city's First Lady, Rosalie Sarabia-Treņas got its biggest boost with no less than the hierarchy of the Philippine National Police (PNP) recognizing the group she represented as the year's best.
In a ceremony graced by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes and PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao, Iloilo City-based Iloilo Juvenile Welfare Association (IJWA) was awarded as Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) of the Year in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Only on its third year of operations, IJWA has since been behind the continued success of "Dalayunan, Home for Boys" which serves as detention home for youthful offenders. Treņas personally moved for IJWA's birth and Dalayunan's realization in answer to the then disturbing plight of arrested juvenile delinquents in the city.
To date, IJWA's Dalayunan, a 50-bed facility in Bo. Obrero, Lapuz, Lapaz, Iloilo City provides basic food, shelter and clothing to Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL). Yet it is more than just the basics with social services in place, skills and livelihood training conducted, involvement and exposure to socio-cultural, sports and recreation. There is also values formation and parental involvement activities as collaboration with other agencies in the government were maximized.
The IJWA-Dalayunan Home for Boys has main partners in VLAAMS INTERNATIONAL CENTRUM (VIC), a Brussels Belgium-based NGO with Maurice Piers as its Manila-based coordinator.
IJWA key personalities are Treņas as Chairperson, Adrian Moncada as President of the Board and Fatima Agabe as Executive Director. Partnership of the City Government and Mayor Jerry Treņas is represented by Claire Dignadice, City Social Welfare and Development Officer.
Such alongside the main partnership with the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) under Senior Supt. Norlito Bautista and the ICPO's Women and Children's Concern Section (WCCS) under P/Senior Insp. Erna Foerster as ICPO-WCCS chief.