TABUK CITY, Kalinga (PIA) — Children in conflict with the law (CICL) in Kalinga and neighboring provinces will soon have better access to rehabilitation services after the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) committed to fund the construction of a P31.5-million Bahay Pag-asa in this city.
Mayor Darwin Estrañero said the city government had already secured a site for the project and presented its proposal to DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, explaining that the local government could not finance the construction because of competing infrastructure priorities.
According to Estrañero, Gatchalian approved the proposal by making the facility an extension of the DSWD Regional Bahay Pag-asa Center in Baguio City, allowing the national government to fund the construction as well as the center’s personnel, maintenance, and operating expenses.
Once completed, the facility will provide temporary shelter, counseling, education, and rehabilitation services for children undergoing court proceedings or intervention programs, serving beneficiaries from Tabuk City, Kalinga, Apayao, and Mountain Province, where access to Bahay Pag-asa facilities remains limited.
The DSWD will prepare the building design, conduct the bidding process, and oversee the construction while the city government will assist in the project’s implementation. The facility is expected to accommodate more than 100 children, subject to the final approved design.
Estrañero said the arrangement would allow the city government to provide rehabilitation services without shouldering the facility’s operating costs. He thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Gatchalian for supporting the project.
The new facility will complement Kalinga’s existing provincial Bahay Pag-asa, making the province one of the few in the Cordillera Administrative Region with both provincial- and city-based rehabilitation facilities for children in conflict with the law.
The project is part of the DSWD’s nationwide expansion of Bahay Pag-asa facilities after the agency earmarked P275 million under the 2026 General Appropriations Act for the pilot construction of five regional centers.
Data from the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council showed that only 117 Bahay Pag-asa centers were operating nationwide as of May 2026, with many local government units unable to establish and sustain the facilities because of limited financial resources. **JDP/RGA-PIA CAR, Kalinga with reports from Tabuk City PIO
