Dominic I. Sanchez
DIPOLOG CITY - The Regional Council for the Welfare of Children (RCWC) has conducted on Friday (May 23) its second quarter consultative meeting at the Top Plaza Pension House here in this city.
Zamboanga del Norte Governor Roberto Uy, in a message read by his representative underscored the role of the RCWC in child protection and the promotion of children’s welfare, particularly in strengthening the local children’s councils among local government units (LGUs) not only in the province, but in all municipalities and cities in the region.
The need to have a Monitoring and Response System (MRS) on Grave Child’s Rights Violations in Situations of Armed Conflict was among the topics discussed in the said gathering.
Bobby Gonzaga of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) in Zamboanga del Norte said that “the MRS is an inter-agency undertaking, and will need an executive order from the CWC so that we can create such a system.” He added that there is an urgent need to establish this system especially in Children in Situations of Armed Conflict (CSAT) areas.
“The government of the Philippines is mandated to respect utmost humanitarian rights, especially those of children,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Ma. Socorro Rojas, Zamboanga City Social Welfare and Development Officer pointed out that such a response system would enable closer coordination between non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in child protection.
April Obtinario of the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC)-Central Office emphasized that in MRS, the following items should be reported: who is reporting an incident, the source of the information, date and time of the incident, location, number of children affected, name and age of the affected children, name of the armed group, and even any member of the armed forces that may have committed an abuse, and a short description of the incident.
