Mt. Province barangays organize own councils for protection of children

By Juliet B. Saley

Friday 13th of July 2012

BONTOC, Mt. Province, July 13 (PIA) -- All the 144 barangays of the province have organized their own Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) to ensure that the concerns of children in the barangay level are attended to.

This was reported by Perry Bacwaden of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) office here during the Provincial Council for the Protection of Children (PCPC) meeting.

The DILG facilitates and provides technical assistance in the organization of Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC) and spearheads the monitoring of their functionality at all levels.

Criteria for the classification of the functionality of LCPCs include organization which is 10 percent, meaning the LCPC must be organized through a Sangguniang Bayan resolution/ordinance or through an Local Chief Executive’s Executive/Administrative Order; meetings -10 percent; policies, plans and budget concerning child survival, development, protection and participation-30 percent and accomplishments- 50 percent.

The monitoring is an annual assessment of LCPC functionality and the result of the assessment serves as vital inputs on national and local planning and in policy formulation.

Bacwaden reported that the LCPC functionality in the province for the year 2011 shows that 50 barangays are ideal, 90 are mature, four are progressive.

The ideal LCPCs are those that garnered a total rating of 80 percent and above, mature has a rating of 51 – 79 percent, and progressive with a rating of 21 – 50 percent. (JDP/JBS- PIA CAR, Mt. Province)