Tagbilaran City has always been a consistent recipient of the Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance since 2014, indeed, a certified child-friendly community and this year is no exception as the City again bagged the said award.

Aside from earning the seal, Tagbilaran City was declared as the regional winner for the Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities conferred last April 2019.

City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II is grateful to the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Eduardo Año and Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Joselito Baustista for the recognition.

“Tagbilaran City will always be mindful of the well-being of children; we will always prioritize the needs and advancement of children as seen in the way we plan our programs, allocate our funds, and craft our ordinances,” Mayor Yap emphasized.

Tagbilaran City successfully passed the audit conducted by the DILG and was declared “eligible” to be conferred with the Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance by the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC).

Tagbilaran was assessed based on the 12 assessment criteria. The assessement criteria are 1) Percentage reduction in the deaths among children below five years old; 2) Percentage reduction in the number of children under six with below normal weights; 3) Percentage increase in the number of 3-4- year-old children attending center-based day care services; 4) Completion rate for elementary schooling; 5) Absence of child labor or percentage reduction in child labor cases; 6) Percentage reduction in the number of children victims of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation (all forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, and exploitation, and trafficking in persons). 7) Safety measures for children in the community and schools; Extent of mainstreaming of children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation in the core development agenda of LGUs; 9) An ordinance establishing Barangay Violence Against Women and their Children (VAW/C) Desks; 10)  PhilHealth accreditation in its main health facility or rural health unit for Maternal Care Services and Primary Care; 11) A Local School Board (LSB) Plan which is aligned with the School Improvement Plan (SIP); 12) Completed at least 70% of its LSB Plan.

These assessment criteria were used as benchmark in measuring the results and performance of the LGUs.

Mayor Yap commended the City Social and Welfare Development Office (CSWDO) for their hard-work and dedication.

“Being a consistent awardee only goes to show how much effort you have exerted to meet all the targets outlined by the CWC. The Tagbilaranons are fortunate to have you in the fold. I am happy that your labor has been recognized,” Yap said.