Bantay Bata 163 upgrades Children’s Village
Bantay Bata 163, ABS-CBN’s child welfare and protection arm, recently relaunched its Children’s Village after upgrading its facilities and enhancing its programs to better cater to the needs of Filipino youth suffering from all forms of abuse.
“It’s Children’s Village version 2.0,” said program director Jing Castañeda-Velasco while video clips flashed on screen showing the unveiling of the Children’s Village during a recent presscon. The new home has several new features that aim to help children — from 0 to 17 years old — who are victims of child abuse. It can accommodate as many as 120 children.
The half-way house for rescued youth, located in Norzagaray, Bulacan, has served as a home for over a thousand youngsters since 2003, providing them a shelter where they can heal and recover from the trauma of abuse and regain confidence to build a better future for themselves.
Jing explained why they used the term “relaunch” when the Children’s Village started to serve as a home for abused kids since 15 years ago. “It was in 2014 when we felt that there was a need to reassess the programs and the services we’re offering so temporarily, we ceased the operations and then even the building structure needed to be fixed and renovated. And now through the help of the Quezon City government, headed by Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, the operational costs of the Children’s Village — our expenses — will be shouldered by the Q.C. government. They have allocated funds for the operational expenses so magtutulungan kami.
“With the relaunch, we have strengthened the programs, una dito
meron tayong Resilience Program with the help of Cefam (Center for Family Ministries) focusing on life skills for complete rehabilitation and healing of the children.”
Apart from the Q.C. government, several donors and organizations also extended help to enable Bantay Bata 163 to provide a better home, help, protection, love and care for the children so that they can regain their strength physically, mentally and emotionally, and move forward with their lives after a year under the care of the foundation.
“We also have Livelihood and Productivity Center para kung lumabas na sila, meron silang kakayahan na magtrabaho para kumita o makapag-sideline. ‘Yung ganung mga bagay tinututukan din namin sa Children’s Village,” Jing added. Social workers, health care professionals and house parents will work hand in hand in looking after the children inside the Village that has an administrative building, multi-purpose hall, cottages, meditation room, music room, arts and crafts room and library. It also has play area for pre-schoolers while other children go to nearby schools.
Jing shared that before, the LGU that referred the child to Bantay Bata was the one responsible for the orientation and preparation of the parents for the return of their child. This time, the foundation takes care of it through the program called Values Formation Support that guides the parents of the children on what to do for them to heal and move forward as well.
A beneficiary, named Len, shared during the presscon how Bantay Bata 163 continues to support her through social workers and educational assistance that greatly helped her in gaining confidence to carve a bright future. Len suffered abuse from her own relatives in the past but she is now pursuing a college degree in Education.
With Bantay Bata 163’s celebration of its 21st anniversary, Jing said that aside from maintaining their core services in protecting children at risk and the disadvantaged through a nationwide network of social services and the Children’s Village, the foundation also gears towards protecting the youth from online abuse and exploitation. It is no secret that there are children who experience some form of online abuse such as sexual violence and cyberbullying.
Psychologist Estrelita Turingan of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-NCR said, “Child abuse is an ongoing issue. DSWD has many centers catering to different cases of children, but Bantay Bata has stepped in to help us handle cases like these.”
Bantay Bata also has a partnership with Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to assist children left behind by their OFW parents who are also in danger of abuse.
Jing urged everyone to take part in the advocacy of rescuing and protecting the abused children, saying, “We need your help. We really need to make sure we invest in our children who are the future of our country. It takes a village to raise a child, but we need love to build a village.”