MikeLigalig.com

By Loy Palapos
Bohol Sunday Post

Qualification-wise, she is on top of the heap, at a time when there are those who hold supervisory jobs because there are no others whose educational attainments and exposure are commensurate with the assigned task. Competence is still the name of the game, with performance as the frame of reference. It is along this line that Dr. Teresita Quijada-Villafuerte (TQV), Doctor of Education, can hold a candle to any administrator worth her salt.

As Tagbilaran City Social Welfare and Development Officer IV for the past three years, she can now view her job in a more comprehensive perspective. When Willy Berseluna retired, there was nobody else perceived to be capable of filling his shoes. Her ascension as chief of office was an expectation that did not merit contradictory comments.

She is a graduate of BSSW and MSSW (Bachelor and Master of Science in Social Welfare), and is a Doctor of Education. Her interest in serving people was expressed through her enrollment in a Nursing course. Her uncle, the late Castor Bunachita, encouraged her to work for social welfare, whom she heeded. She has always been interested in serving people in need and believe social work has broad scope in offering services to people in need.

Dr. Villafuerte has a soft spot especially for children who have no homes, nor parents or relatives to care for them. There are also times when the parents themselves are irresponsible, that they don't find time to tend to their offsprings.

Nor do they know their role in parenting. A child coming from this kind of union could, instead of becoming a useful citizen of the community, be a thorn in the public's throat.

This is where Dr. Villafuerte and her staff come in, as a government agency to land a helping hand in the children's development to make them productive members of society. It is a tough job, more so for those who don't really care for child welfare; but for somebody like her whose concern to guide and make children useful citizens of the country is a priority, and who loves in shaping them, transcends personal interest. Molding kids is her passion.

This interview shows that Dr. Villafuerte is a lady not fond of circumlocutory answers. She is always direct to the point, without peripheral expressions that are only wasted. Her simplicity in her answers drives a vital point: she does not waste her time in banters of any kind. Action speaks louder than words. The projects she spearheads with her staff are legacies of her love for children and the aged.

LMP: Child care and development is a concern of DSWD. What are your ongoing program/programs along this?
TQV: City Social Welfare and Development has programs for children, like: day care services; adoption and guardianship which are court-related services in coordination with the national services to victims of child abuse through counseling; medicines, foods, clothing, placement, referral, etc.; parent effectiveness service on dealing with child development; and coordination with the Barangay Council for the protection of children.

LMP: Is the problem of child-abuse prevalent in Tagbilaran City? What is the process involved in case somebody reports a case of child abuse to your office?
TQV: Tagbilaran City has minimal cases. The child shall be subjected for medico-legal examination at the GSGMH. He then proceeds to the PNP to blotter/record the case for possible legal action against the abuser. He is referred to the Barangay Council for Protection of Children in the barangays where the child resides for appropriate action. The child can be given protection by the DSWD City Social Welfare and Development, devolved from DSWD and his other needs like counseling or detramatizing services.

LMP: How about abuse of women? How many such cases do we have in the City? Is the number a cause for alarm?
TQV: Sure! A number of cases were reported to our office but many more cases are not formally reported. They just came out during our women sessions conducted in the barangays on the case on VAWC (Violence Against Women and Children).

LMP: Do we have a program to rehabilitate victims of abuse? What are they, and how are they implanted?
TQV: Programs vary depending upon the gravity of the VAWC case. We have all the possible means of rehabilitation.

LMP: What are the programs/projects your Office is involved in to alleviate poverty? What are the success indicators?
TQV: Our programs/projects to alleviate poverty include self-employment assistance, the provision of capital assistance to eligible clients free of interest: and skills training the provision of skills for possible open and self-employment. The success indicators: improved lifestyle; improved positively high aspirations; sending children to school; ability to pay loan (SEA); ability to land a job (graduates of skills training) and gain healthy salary; and improvement from below poverty level to survival level.

LMP: Is juvenile delinquency still a big problem in Tagbilaran? What are the measures we have implemented to lessen the reference of this problem?
TQV: Juvenile delinquency poses a big problem in Tagbilaran due to the implementation of R.A. 9344, which was abrupt and caught many implementers unprepared.

LMP: How does Tagbilaran City compare with other cities in dealing with the above-mentioned problems?
TQV: I do not know yet since we have not yet secured information from other cities about youth delinquency.

LMP: In ten years time, would those problems increase, or decrease? Qualify your answer.
TQV: It will depend on the lawmakers and the implementers, parenting skills on how they brought up their children, and the environment or society.

Total commitment is a necessity in the kind of job Dr. Teresita Villafuerte has. But if a person loves his work, it is not work at all. It is this dedication for social service that Tess Villafuerte has nurtured throughout the years, that has brought her fulfillment inspite of the problem she has to solve, sometimes single-handedly.

The problem on budgetary constraints plagues almost all agencies concerned in social welfare and development, but she is not complaining. She has long proven equal to the task, and more than ready to face more challenges.

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Wow, you seem very bitter ... would you mind clarifying this ? What kind of horrible  things have you experienced in the City DSWD ?

My experience with most government offices in Tagbilaran or anywhere else in our country is that if you dont know anybody, 99% of the time, you get really crappy service and they treat you like dirt.

BUT if you act courteously and politely, even complete strangers try to be nice to you, amazing what a smile can do.

Cursing people in a certain office to the heavens seem a tad too melodramatic dont you think ? There are probably a thousand requests and problems that come to that office everyday...yours probably wasnt as urgent as a family who's starving or a kid who got ran over by a tricycle or a grade schooler who got bit by a rabid dog, so what's your beef with the City DSWD ?


Lastly, you can't please everybody...heck, people probably reading your "column" probably think negative things about you. That doesnt make you horrible as a person. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. My point is, cursing people in a public forum without stating a reason and without a way for them to respont is pretty childish, dont you think ?


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