LAGAWE, IFUGAO – – The development program of children in Kiangan, Ifugao is projected to sustain its vigor next year following a “resounding” success of the town’s children’s month congress and private sector active engagement.
A new path of service by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO), under the strong stewardship of Mario Indopia, is underway as stakeholders and private sector supporters here are forecast to actively take part in the office’s program, projects and activities in 2025.
“We believe the growth and development of the young sector will primarily be driven by a greater sense of community,” Indopia said.
He also asked from the members of the public sector their unconditional support and assistance as he admitted that his office still has a lot of things to do given its limited resources. This means that there are many challenges ahead for the MSWDO. Year-round challenges to address as it is reflective of the government’s avowed pronouncements of promoting great love for children, most especially those from the underserved sector.
“Let us then altogether work for betterment of their conditions,” he stressed in an exclusive interview.
“Bottom line is to deliver the best service we can for the sake of our beloved children,” he added.
Indopia’s office is currently mapping the MSWDO’s projects, hoping to complete them by December of this year.
This program aims to promote the well-being of children thus, giving them comfortable and healthier lives. So, building public support for their goals is so important. Ramping up are related concerns to ensure that neglected and abused children are prepared for eventual reintegration with their adaptive parents.
Presently, the MSWDO is deepening and strengthening its partnership with the public sector. Thus, it rolled out invitations to DSWD-CAR Director Maria Aplaten and Kiangan Mayor Raldis Bulayungan during the congress.
This year’s theme, “Break the Prevalence, End the Violence, Protecting Children, Creating a Safe Philippines,” asserts that the young are still facing multifarious threats in their daily lives.
As usual, there’s a fallback lifeline: resort to some kind of intervention. Possibly, these interventions would yield good results and benefits for children.
No matter how badly things have gone for poor kids, the private sector hopes and tries to make it possible for them to have a new beginning. Leaders of non-government organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs) are in the forefront in calling the government to fortify the foundations for early childhood care and development in the First 1,000 days Program in poor barangays. In the interest of promoting the health and nutrition of poor children, therefore, pursuing a development roadmap is required.
Indopia, arguably one of the best municipal social welfare and development officers in the Cordilleras, has conceptualized integrated growth strategic approach in various projects. Endeavors as this one would help kids grow as productive members of society thus, transform them as indispensable partners in nation-building. Grasping the strategic significance of a children’s congress is undeniably all too important. After holding it, be happy to hear that the children are ready to do good things. Even as others spoke of God’s grace and blessings for children. For sure, children are aware by heart their need of God’s protection.
The Kiangan MSWDO’s journey to building a better future for poor children is a meticulous process. For one, it needs the support of caring and knowledgeable individuals in the private sector as a helping hand. Following the identification of said individuals, meetings are held where they actively take part and offer out-of-the-box approaches to remedy problems. Outdated plans are discarded. More timely and relevant concerns are prioritized. For example, what concrete steps are to be taken for the protection of children against online abuse and sexual exploitation. And then, what is being done to reverse dismal proficiency of public-school children to improve their reading, mathematics and science skills. Cash-strapped, lowly-educated Ifugao parents continue to say that they can’t afford tutorial session for their kids, unmindful of Republic Act No. 12028 or the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Act (ARAL). For short, tutorials are free. Pushing for immediate budgetary increase of school-days feeding program makes a lot of sense when DepEd is clearly not utilizing its “confidential funds” for justifiable purpose. In other words, stop the wastage of funds. In a World Bank report released in 2023, it revealed that severe malnutrition remains a serious problem for nearly 30 years, with one in every three Filipino children below 5 years old suffering from stunting. In all cases, the poor children are short-changed!
Apart from violence, these problems have long-lasting and grave repercussions on children. Statistics show that poor provinces like Ifugao has the area most severely affected by such problems. Therefore, the need to determine the extent of the risks and actions to be taken is vital.
Poor children truly deserve a better living and learning environment. That they too walk, play, sleep, worship and study in the nearness and greatness of life. Today, there are concerned individuals in the civilian sector who are ready and willing to help them go beyond realizing this dream. Anyone of them will be pleased to make this dream celebrated and cherished.
Empowering children to optimize their contributions to development should be prioritized. Harnessing the full potential of the youth through sports and recreation opportunities to wean them away from virulent vices is just as important.
People can still comfortably believe that Mr. Indopia will be able to muster enough courage and wisdom to meet these challenges.
With the Kiangan MSWDO’s commitment of building a strong and lasting relationship with children, town folks should not waste this rare opportunity to do something positive. The time to do it is now! Take courage to participate in the affairs of the government. **By Anthony A. Araos
