by PNA
President Benigno S. Aquino III led the awarding ceremonies for this year’s search for the Child Friendly Municipalities and Cities at Rizal Hall of Malacañang Palace Thursday.
The Presidential Award for the Child Friendly Municipalities and Cities was initiated by the Council for the Welfare of Children and is considered as a self-assessment mechanism of the level of child-friendliness of a particular city or municipality.
The award also recognizes local government units that put in place a “child-friendly†environment and uphold the rights of Filipino children to survival, development, protection and participation.
There are five categories for the Presidential Award, namely – 4th to 6th Class Municipality, 1st to 3rd Class Municipality, Component City, Independent Component City and Highly Urbanized City.
The five winners who will each receive a Presidential Trophy and P300,000 cash prize are: the Municipality of Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya; Mariveles, Bataan; Vigan City, Ilocos Sur; Santiago City, Isabela; and Mandaluyong City, respectively.
In his speech, President Aquino cited the five winners for putting the children’s welfare as a top priority of its governance that he said was in line with the national government’s efforts to protect and uplift the lives of our children.
He said the government’s poverty alleviation programs, namely: the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the national health program Philhealth had steadily been receiving funding to cover more beneficiaries.
He said that as of end of September, some 2.23 million Filipino families are now benefiting from the 4Ps while 5.2 million families now have healthcare.
The President also said that the government had made education a top priority as P1-billion has been raised through the Counter-Parting for Classroom Construction Program to construct 1,300 classrooms nationwide.
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