By Anna Valmero
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, PALAWAN—The Puerto Princesa City Council has approved an ordinance that seeks to have a barangay children welfare and protection coordinators in the city's 66 barangays.
The ordinance mandates every barangay in the city to effectively implement provisions of the Child Welfare Code of Puerto Princesa City and Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, said ordinance author and city councilor Modesto Rodriguez.
The coordinators are expected to keep records, documents and data about child welfare and protection in villages, including those children in conflict with the law.
The reports must be submitted regularly to the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) and concerned agencies.
“The coordinators will facilitate legal action, regularly report and monitor the status and circumstances of children welfare and protection cases within the barangay easing the huge burden and work load from the CSWDO,” sadi Rodriguez.
CSWDO will supervise the coordinators in some 30,000 local households and will offer the policies, guidelines, rules and regulations to implement the ordinance.
There are some 210,508 residents in the city, according to 2007 statistics from the National Statistical Coordination Board.
