Cebu City eyes to establish communal for single mothers

A private individual has expressed to donate a 500 square-meter lot in Barangay Apas, Cebu City where a communal for single mothers will be established.

This was disclosed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña who said the area is near I.T. Park where Qualfon is located. The mayor said Qualfon has already agreed to hire all qualified single moms in its company.

“I'm very serious about this because we have lost productivity, many single mothers are back in the provinces because they cannot survive in the city. They are operating a sari-sari store because they cannot be separated from their baby,” he told reporters.

Osmeña said he does not want to have these supposed productive single mothers to continue their “wasted life” without jobs because of their babies.

The mayor did not announce who the donor of the land is as well as the details of the donation as it was not completed yet.

As of now, he said he is continuously meeting core groups to discuss the residential quarters for call center agents and an establishment for their babies.

During the first six months this year, Osmeña said the city government will help organize and recruit possible qualified agents. After it, they will be screened by Qualfon.

These qualified agents will be consulted on the design of the facility, he said. The mayor said all plans will be posted on his official Facebook page for transparency.

“While you are working, you don't have to worry about your baby because she's being fed and taken care of,” he said.

Osmeña initially planned for these single mothers to live a life of Kibbutz in Israel where people will live and will work together on a noncompetitive basis.

The communal for single mothers is a first in the city and country for this kind of social experiment, he said, adding that he is hoping that he could perfect the model so that other local government units can follow.

One of the challenges as of now is to look for interested single mothers who are qualified to work in a call center, the mayor said.

Initial plans include starting with 100 single mothers and will be expanded once the program will be self-sustaining.

The mayor also announced that there are companies that expressed to subsidize the early stage of operation of the communal.