Roxas council for kids gets new members
Roxas City -- City Mayor Vicente B. Bermejo has reconstituted the Roxas City Council for the Protection of Children to include new members from the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) and the non-government organization sector.
In Executive Order No. 5, Series of 2007, Bermejo, who also chairs the council, said there is a need to expand the membership of said body to boost its capability to promote the welfare of children in the provincial capital.
The new members of the council now include the City Councilor Erwin Sicad, Chair of the SP Committee on Social Services and Welfare, City Councilor Ramon Albar, Chair of the Committee on Education. The new NGO representatives are Marina Aquito of Katin-aran Children Center and Corazon Ortiz of Buas Damlag Sang Panimalay.
City councilor Member Carla B. Abela, chair of the SP Committee on Women and Family, is the Co-Chair of the council.
The members are the following: Jose Aurelio Roldan, DILG CITY head; Engr. Jessie Gomez, DepEd City Schools Division Superintendent; Lorelei Piansay, City Planning and Development Coordinator; Gilda Fernando, City Budget Officer; Dr. Amelia Robles, City Health Officer; Cynthia Besana, City Social Welfare and Development Officer; Mignon Bermejo, City Nutrition Officer; PNP Roxas City; Joselito Almodiente, City Treasurer; Jose Fulgencio del Rosario, City SK Federation President and SP ex officio member; Parents Teachers Community Association; Child Representative; St. Joseph Orphanage; Remedios Laplana, City Population Officer; Salvador Borda, City Agriculturist; Erwin Ignacio, City Prosecutor; Jaime Cabag, Jr., Philippine Information Agency; and, Danny Espinosa, Department of Labor and Employment.
Bermejo said the creation of the council is a concrete manifestation of the city government's commitment to uphold children's rights and pursue programs and mechanisms to ensure the protection and development of children as mandated by the Constitution.
It is also in compliance with DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2002-121 dated August 5, 2002.
Among the functions of the council are to formulate plans, programs and policies for children that are gender-fair, culturally relevant and responsive to the needs of diverse groups of children from 0 to below 18 years of age, prepare an annual work and financial plan for children and recommend appropriations to the city council, and provide coordinative linkages with other agencies and institutions in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of plans for children.
The government has crafted various programs for children including a country program funded by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and implemented in some 20 provinces of the country. It is also vigorously promoting breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for children to make them healthy and, later on, productive members of the community.
(PIA)