FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
FIRST REGULAR SESSION )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez an
Representative Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

House Bill No._3333
EXPLANATORY NOTE

The first six years of life are known as the formative years. The kind and
quality of care given during this period is, therefore, very crucial

The parents, under normal circumstances, play a major role in enriching the
child's environment as the primary sources of learning and developmental
experiences. However, this may not be the case in over seventy percent of the
Filipino homes where many poor parents have insufficient resources, knowledge,
and opportunities to promote early childhood training.

The increasing number of street children, the low achievement levels in
elementary education despite huge investments by the Government, and the
inability of many young children to complete schooling are among the problems
attributed to inadequate parental guidance and attention.

Mothers may become so preoccupied with office or farm work that they can
no longer attend to the needs of their children. In families where there are many
children, mothers may not be able to attend to the needs of their pre-school
children as priority has to be given to the care of infants and younger children.

It is for these reasons that Women's Community Support Centers are
sought to be established. The centers will not only provide substitute maternal
care for children, but would also serve as a center through which the livelihood
programs, literacy programs and the population programs of the Government may
be brought to the grassroots. It is hoped that the centers may serve as a complete
support system for working women

RUFUS B. IGUEZ

Ww

MAXIMO B. RODRIGUEZ, JR


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
FIRST REGULAR SESSION )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez and
Representative Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

House Bill No,_ 8833

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A BARANGAY DAY CARE AND WOMEN’S SUPPORT
CENTER IN EVERY BARANGAY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the “Barangay Day Care and
Women’s Support Center Act’

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the
State to support the establishment and maintenance of Barangay Day Care and
Women's Support Centers in depressed barangays in order to assist
disadvantaged women in the care of their pre-school children and in the
improvement of their productivity and hence, uplift the economic status of their
families.

In the pursuit of this policy, due consideration shall be given to the rights
and needs of the children, age zero to six, to services necessary for their
wholesome physical, mental, and social development

SEC. 3. Establishment of a Barangay Day Care and Women’s Support
Center. - A Barangay Day Care and Women’s Support Center, hereinafter
referred to as the “Center”, shall be established in every depressed barangay in
the Philippines as shall be determined by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), taking into account the socio-economic profile of
barangays, sanitation, conditions, health status of residents, number of
disadvantaged women, number of children aged zero to six, presence of support
mechanisms/structures for women and children in the community, e.g., day care,
child minding, supplemental feeding, etc. and other factors that shall be deemed
indicative of the need for a Center: Provided, that priority shall be given to the
most economically depressed areas with the highest percentage of disadvantaged
women and children.


Initially, fourteen (14) pilot Centers shall be established in fourteen (14)
regions in barangays chosen as priority areas. Subsequently, it is envisioned that
other Centers may be set up under the auspices of the local government and/or
non-government organizations to implement these provisions.

SEC 4. Integration of Barangay Day Care Center with the Center. —
Whenever a Center is established in a barangay, the resources and/or services of
the existing barangay day care center, set up by virtue of Presidential Decree No.
1567, shall be assumed by the Center. However, all existing barangay day care
centers shall continue to exist and function as such until the Centers are
established in these barangays.

SEC. 5. Programs and Services. - The Center shall be a barangay-based
facility that shall offer a support program to disadvantaged women and pre-school
children belonging to the most indigent families in the barangay, as shall be
determined by the DSWD based on the criteria prescribed in Section 3 hereof, and
in consultation with the respective Barangay Councils. The Center shall also
serve as a “Drop in and Information Center’ for women in difficult circumstances,
e.g., battered, abused, victims of involuntary prostitution and victims of illegal
recruitment. In particular, the Center shall provide among others:

ik Skills Training Services include:

a) _ Self-care and child care skills development which refers to the
provision of knowledge and skills, teaching of values on self/child care,
including personal hygiene, breastfeeding and weaning, child spacing,
breast examination; environmental sanitation focusing on safe water
supply, proper refuse disposal, use of sanitary toilets; nutrition education
including growth monitoring and promotions; usage of herbal plants;
common children's disorders, encouraging a more active participation in
immunization.

b) __Livelihood skills development which refers to the provision of
opportunities to engage in productive undertakings/income-generating
projects either through open, sheltered or self-employment. This includes
the following social works intervention: practical skills development,
including but not limited to backyard-gardening, home-based aqua culture
and livestock raising, job referral and counseling, basic business
management skills development, etc.

c) Social communication skills development which refers to the
enhancement of basic communication skills of women to enable them to
express/communicate better their thoughts, ideas and feelings;

d) _ Self-enhancement skills development which refers to the
provision of opportunities for empowerment of women/value inculcation and
value transformation to discover their strengths and limitations as well as
develop and enrich their self-image; and


) Community participation skills development which refers to
the mobilization of women to create opportunities to relate and interact with
other women in the community, raise issues and concerns affecting
women’s welfare and initiate actions on these issues at the community
levels.

2. Child Minding Service. - This is a scheme of day service whereby
children aged zero to two (0-2) whose needs cannot be met in day care centers
because they are too young to benefit from their services are taken care of while
their mothers attend to their work at home or outside the home.

3. Day Care Service. - It is an arrangement whereby substitute
mothering is provided to children aged two to six (2-6) who are neglected or
potentially neglected during the day when mothers cannot attend to them due to
the following reasons: work, large family size, emotional immaturity, ill-health of
mother or member of the family, and poor environment.

4. Health and Nutrition Service. - This encompasses the periodic
monitoring of the nutritional status of children and the provision of food assistance
to combat the problem of malnutrition among the pre-school children zero to six (0-
6) years old to enable them to improve their nutritional level

The services may include immunizations and other medical services for
common diseases suffered by children aged zero to six (0-6) years old.

5. Library. - This refers to the setting of a portion of the center whereby
reading and other reference materials are made available for use of the women
and the pre-school children in the community.

6. Protective and Counseling Services. - These shall include
identifying/monitoring, providing sanctuary within the barangay and/or referring
abused, exploited or maltreated women and children to the proper authorities.

7. Other Support Mechanisms. - These shall encompass, among
others, referral and support systems for safe child delivery by pregnant women

The Center shall also have a Foster Mothers Pool that shall provide part-
time or fulltime mothering to children aged zero to six (0-6) years old. The
Barangay Council/Barangay-level Council for the Protection of Children shall be
responsible in enlisting and selecting the participants to the Foster Mothers Pool
from among retirees and volunteers in the community. They may undergo a
Foster Training course conducted by the DSWD with the assistance of the Office
of the Municipal Mayor.

Barangay officials shall encourage the participation of residents and solicit
the support of various organizations to establish and/or maintain facilities


contributory to making the environment in the barangay more salutary for the
wholesome physical, mental and social development of children.

‘The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department
of Health (DOH). Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of
Agriculture (DA) and other government agencies shall coordinate their programs in
support of the development of women and children with the DSWD. The
Secretary of the DSWD and the Secretaries of these Departments shall work out
how those programs can be integrated into the services that shall be provided by
the Centers.

SEC. 6. Operation and Maintenance. —

a) Minimum Requirements. - A Center must be located in an area
which is safe and well-ventilated and must have adequate toilet and washing
facilities within or near its premises.

b) Maintenance. - Local Government Units (LGUs) are hereby
encouraged to solicit the support of non-government organizations (NGOs) and
other civic-minded individuals in maintaining the Centers and in establishing a
network of support mechanisms, e.g. volunteer manpower.

c) Overall Authority over Activities. - The DSWD shall have overall
authority over the activities/services offered by the Center.

SEC. 7. Personnel. - The Center shall be staffed with at least one (1)
female and one (1) social worker of good health and competent enough to provide,
assist and/or supervise the services offered by the Centers. Nursery workers in
the Centers and accredited barangay day care centers shall receive a monthly
allowance of not less than five hundred pesos (P500.00). Furthermore, support
manpower for the Centers may consist of the following:

1. Members of the Foster Mothers Pool;
2. Other Volunteers from the private or public sector, including

members of soci ic organizations, out of school youths or
students on vacation;

3. Mothers;

4, Students enrolled in practicum courses majoring in social works and
other related fields; and

5. Others as may be determined by the DSWD in consultation with the
Local Government Units.

The Barangay Council/Barangay level Council for the Protection of Children
shall arrange the shifting of the volunteers to help run the Center. In cases where


there are few volunteers, the Barangay Council/Barangay level Council for the
Protection of Children shall take charge in devising a system whereby women in
the barangay may take turn in providing the support manpower. The Barangay
Captain shall be responsible in coordinating the schedules of the community
participants with the local DSWD personnel in charge of a certain barangay.

SEC. 8. Sponsorship of Centers/Barangay Day Care Centers. - Any
private person, group, organization or business entity with juridical personality may
sponsor a Center/barangay day care center. An applicant for sponsorship must
submit a letter of application to the DSWD stating its purpose and objectives in
sponsoring a Center/barangay day care center and also indicating the location of
the Center/barangay day care center which the applicant wishes to sponsor. The
DSWD shall act on the application and issue a notice of approval or disapproval of
sponsorship within thirty (30) days after the receipt of the application.

A sponsor cannot revise or alter the curriculum of the Sponsored
Center/barangay day care center. It may not sponsor or hold activities which are
not duly-approved by the DSWD.

The DSWD shall issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement
these provisions,

SEC. 9. Donations. - The DSWD may receive donations or bequest of
property or services which shall be utilized only for the implementation of the
program. Such donations or bequests of property shall be covered by the
provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) exempting such from
taxes and other fees and/or procedures.

SEC. 10. _Funding/appropriations. - An initial outlay of Fifteen Million
Pesos (P15,000,000.00) is hereby authorized to be appropriated to establish
Centers in depressed barangays chosen as priority areas by the DSWD and to
support the strengthening of the National Center and Laboratory/or Women's
Welfare and Development located in Metropolitan Manila.

Thereafter, the fund for the establishment, maintenance and operation of
Centers in every barangay shall be included in the annual appropriations of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development

Funds for the monthly allowance of nursery workers in accredited barangay
day care centers shall also be charged to the annual appropriations of the DSWD.

Local Government Units shall provide for their unexpected balance,
financial assistance for the establishment and maintenance of Centers and
barangay day care centers within their respective locality.

A portion of health programs available to the Philippines under official
and/or unofficial debts arrangement from foreign countries, the amount to be
determined by the Office of the President, shall be extended in support of Centers


and barangay day care centers. Commodities under the aid program may be sold
to augment the allowances of workers of Centers and barangay day care centers.

SEC. 11. Rules and Regulations. - The DSWD, in consultation with the
DILG, DOH, DOLE, DECS, DA and others, shall formulate the rules and
regulations and issue orders and directives as may be needed to implement the
provisions of this Act within ninety (90) days from the approval of the Act.

SEC. 12. Repealing Clause. - The provisions of presidential Decree No.
1567 and any other laws, decrees and executive orders contrary to or inconsistent
with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly

SEC. 13. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
complete publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation

Approved.