Zambo, Isabela City ‘Ideal’ Places for Kids

The cities of Zamboanga and Isabela, Basilan have been found to be “ideal” for children after an audit done by an inter-agency committee led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The functionality audit for the Local Councils for the Protection of Children (LCPC) done on April 10-11 in Zamboanga City and Isabela City respectively found out that both cities’ performance with regard to programs, services and interventions for children fall on the upper percentile, reaching the highest rating.

Hadji Jaber Jamani, DILG focal person for this assessment , said the team of assessors found all requirements pertaining to the functionality of the LCPCs in both cities are in order.

“In fact, the local councils we have assessed have in place several programs and local innovations for the benefit of children especially when it comes to their development, education and participation, among other aspects,” Jamani explained. Jamani added LGUs must see to it that children’s rights and welfare are met, and the best way to track their progress is through a thorough assessment of their plans vis-à-vis their accomplishments.

Some of the requirements to have a functional council include regular meetings of the council members, allotment of funds for children’s programs and services, and reports to verify that children’s funds are well-utilized. Innovations that have not been planned, but are implemented nonetheless are encouraged.

For the two cities, local social welfare offices presented their accomplishments for the year with the necessary documentary requirements as required by the audit team.

Dr. Marcelina Carpizo, Western Mindanao State University’s (WMSU) assessment team representative, said the only difficulty she encountered during the audit was that some documents are in disarray. She urges the local councils to be more organized during the next audit cycles and have a more improved filing system.

This year’s assessment team was composed of the DILG, WMSU, Department of Health (DOH), National Nutrition Council (NNC) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA). (ALT/DIS/PIA9-Zamboanga City)