QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 6972)
RA 6972 (Barangay-Level Total Development and Protection of Children Act) establishes a day care center in every barangay and institutes a total development and protection of children program for Filipino children up to six (6) years of age.
The State affirms children’s right to assistance, proper care and nutrition, and special protection against neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to development; it specifically emphasizes best care at family and community levels for children up to six (6) years old.
Children up to six (6) years are provided the program with the consent of parents; however, for abused, neglected, or exploited children, parental consent is not required.
The program includes: (1) monitoring birth registration and immunization; (2) growth and nutritional monitoring with supplementary feeding; (3) care for children of working mothers during the day (and where feasible, night work), including network of supervised homes or surrogate mothers-teachers; (4) sanctuary for abused/neglected/exploited children (institution and/or sanctuary-homes) with law enforcement assistance when needed; (5) referral and support for pregnant mothers for prenatal/neonatal care and safe delivery when proper; (6) alertness to illegal abortions and untrained hilots and training/recognition of high-risk pregnancies; and (7) barangay-based support and assistance networks for children.
The program includes monitoring registration of births and completion of immunization series for prevention of tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis and other diseases for which vaccines have been developed for administration to children up to six (6) years old.
It provides growth and nutritional monitoring, supplementary nutritional feeding, and supervision of nutritional intake at home.
It provides care for children of working mothers during the day; where feasible, it covers care for children up to six (6) years when mothers work at night via a network of supervised homes (instead of requiring care in one place), with adequate supervision by the supervising social welfare officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The supervising social welfare officer must provide training and adult supervision until children’s care meets adequate standards so children can develop normally, be healthy and happy, and feel loved even in the mother’s absence during working hours.
They provide intellectual and mental stimulation, supervised wholesome recreation, balanced supervised play, mental stimulation activities, and group activities with peers.
A sanctuary is either (1) one child institution in the barangay and/or (2) a network of sanctuary-homes that take in children in urgent need of protection due to situations endangering them or exposing them to cruelty and abuse; law enforcement may be called upon for rescue from unbearable home situations.
The day care center, with help and support of the barangay chairman and barangay-level support systems, may call upon law enforcement agencies when the child needs to be rescued from an unbearable home situation.
It mandates a referral and support system for pregnant mothers for prenatal and neonatal care and, where proper, delivery of the infant under conditions that remove or minimize risk; high-risk mothers must be referred to proper tertiary or secondary care, and children at risk must be brought for care.
The day care center must be alert to illegal abortions and incompetent/untrained hilots, and ensure they are provided needed basic training for normal delivery and trained to recognize high-risk pregnancies to be referred to competent obstetrical and pediatric medical care.
The program shall be implemented by the barangay.
DSWD must: (1) formulate criteria for selection, qualifications, training, accreditation of barangay day care workers, and standards for program implementation; (2) coordinate activities of NGOs with day care workers and other social workers; and (3) protect and assist abused, neglected, or exploited children and secure proper government assistance for them.
National funds from the annual General Appropriations Act under DSWD; province/city/municipality financial assistance for establishment of each barangay day care center; monthly allowances for accredited barangay day care workers (not less than P500.00) charged to DSWD appropriations; additional program and workers appropriations in the General Appropriations Act of the year following enactment; and a portion of health programs funded under official aid/official debt arrangements from foreign countries (amount determined by the Office of the President) to support day care centers.
Not less than Five hundred pesos (P500.00) per month.
Upon approval and completion of publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.