Kiangan develops comprehensive intervention program for juveniles

KIANGAN, Ifugao -Members of the Municipal Council for the Protection of Children (MCPC) of this town have started to develop a Comprehensive Local Juvenile Intervention Program (CLJIP) towards achieving their goal of reducing crimes committed by children and those committed against them.

This was prompted by the results of the childfriendly local government audit where the number of children –atrisk (CAR) and children in conflict with the law (CICL) in the locality remains a concern.

Data on crimes committed against children showed there were 23 cases last year while recorded crimes committed by children for 2016 reached 22. For the half of 2017, there were 10 crimes committed against children topped by rape with six cases followed by acts of lasciviousness with three and physical abuse with one. Recorded crimes committed by children for 2017 totaled to seven with four cases of thief, two for rape and one physical injury.

MCPC Vice Chairman Mario Indopia who is also the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer, said based on the results and what to improve, one identified measure is the formulation of the CLJIP. He reported that the municipality got a total score of 41.4 out of the

65 points in the childfriendly local government audit results for 2016.

To facilitate the plan preparation, representative from the DILG provided reference in formulating the CLJIP with the following framework: Organization and Orientation of the MCPC and the Project Management Team, Preparatory Phase such as the situation of CAR and CICL, data gathering and the establishment of the baseline data, assessment and analysis of the problems confronting the CAR and CICL and the identification of priority issues, Plan Formulation Phase that involve formulating the goals, objectives, identification of programs and strategies and investment planning for a 3-year period and the annual investment plan, Endorsement and Approval Phase, Implementation Phase and the Monitoring and Evaluation Phase.

During the meeting, agency representatives also shared their programs for child protection. The Philippine National Police has a program called the Police Action Giving Attention to the Negative Growth of OSY and In-Schoolyouth or PAGANGO. This has four categories namely spiritual, music, sports and skills and livelihood development, and they are going to all barangays to disseminate this program.

The Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) team of the municipality said they are doing continuous inspection and monitoring of boarding houses to check if the rooms for boys are separate from girls as provided under a municipal ordinance. The team also confronted some store owners for allowing minors to smoke in their backyard.

The Municipal Chaplain, meanwhile, informed that their group is willing to conduct moral recovery activities in the barangays with high number of CAR and CICL cases. The Bureau of Fire Protection suggested the conduct of Fire Olympics and Fire Drills to students. Daniel Codamon/ PIA - CAR