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WELFARE
SERVICES
Profile
This sub-sector covers the largest responsibility in terms
of social services. There are several government agencies
and Non-Government Organizations who are directly
concerned with the welfare of the poor, disadvantaged,
distressed, children, elderly and the youths of the city.
The Office of the City Social Welfare and Development
Services is the frontline in the delivery of this services
to include nutrition, livelihood and population
management. In 1999, there are 44 Office on Social Welfare
& Development Services(OSWDS) employees tasked to provide
quality services, care, protection and rehabilitation to
individuals, families and communities who needed the most
in terms of physical, mental and social work
interventions.
They are ably assisted by several existing organized
groups namely:
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18
Barangay Council for the protection of children (BCP
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27
Barangay Disaster Coordinating Councils (BDCC’s)
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15
Pag-Asa Youth Association of the Philippines (PYAP)
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29
Groups of Organized Street Children (586 members)
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26
Groups of Organized Senior Citizens
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31
Volunteer’s for Parent Effectiveness Services (PES)
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8
Women’s Groups (192 members)
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361
Disabled Persons Affairs Committee(DPAC) Members
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51
Barangay Service Point Officers (BSPO’s)
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37
Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS)
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30
Day Care Centers manned by 34 Day Care Workers (DCW)
attending to 1,909 children
Day Care Services
In an effort to serve better the increasing number of
children in all barangays in Cotabato City, the OSWDS with
the support from the local government envisioned to
construct more Day Care Centers. Table 77 shows the list
of day care centers, location and building structures.
Food Production
The City Nutrition Committee through the able assistance
of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars(BNS) have distributed
available seeds and seedlings as possible source of food
production and recommend food crops suitable for home
consumption.
The "Operation Timbang” team conducts monthly follow-up of
re-weighed pre-school children(PSC) in order to monitor
the nutritional status of all PSC of Cotabato City. It can
be noted an increase in nutritional status.
Disaster Management:
Although Cotabato City may be said to be outside of the
traditional typhoon belt, still it has not been spared of
other disaster, whether man-made or natural. For one, the
city is surrounded by meandering creeks and rivers which
makes it prone to tidal flooding and flashfloods during
heavy rains and down flow of water from upstream. The
condition is aggravated by the natural topographic
constraint.
The ravages of war between government forces and rebel
group virtually rendered the city as sanctuary for
civilian evacuees. The city cannot just refuse the entry
of internal refugees driven by the conflicts and
skirmishes in their localities. These people need
temporary shelter, food and clothing to tide them while
the troubles is still going. The complacent attitude of
the local government in the disaster plan to the point of
procrastinating its action to address the problem of this
nature whenever it occurs.
Women:
Gender issues particularly on the role of the women, the
growing awareness on the empowerment of women through
personal development and full participation in political
processes, structure and other cause oriented issues has
been magnified.
The unequal pay for work of equal value is further
aggravated by differential access to opportunities. Female
tend to be given limited access compared to male
counterpart in terms of training opportunities and
promotions.
Violations of the women rights which is a direct violation
of their human rights. The aggravating effects of verbal
and psychological abuse, sexual harassment, acts of
lasciviousness, molestation to wife beating and
prostitution to rape are all forms of crimes that
specifically applied to women.
The inconsistent nature of implementing some of women
focused programs somehow affects the credibility of its
implementation mainly due to the unavailability of a
comprehensive baseline data on women situation. The
figures would provide insights on the different situations
of women resulting to negative approach to problems that
will address the unmet needs of women in crisis.
The absence of a detention center for women offenders is
another problem which we hope the city government could
address and given priority. These women is in a crisis
situation where they need privacy to interact with people
of same sex. To place them in the same detention cell with
hard care criminals would be a violation their women's
right.
Children
The passage of several legislative acts like Executive
Order 209, Republic Act 7658, 7610 and 6972, focuses
towards "Children's Protective Services" to include
nutrition program for malnourished children and day care
services for children whose parents or relatives are not
able to care for them during the day. They will be
provided with interventions that would ensure the
provision of their basic needs and protection of their
rights as children.The existence of some
facilities/centers that will house children in
disadvantaged situations in Cotabato City does not warrant
the effectiveness of the children-focused programs. The
strong collaborations of government and non-government
agencies are factors that will ensure proper interventions
necessary to address the inept problems of these children.
The plight of children in disadvantaged situations like
the abandoned, the abused, street and urban working
children/in crisis and the exploited requires
interventions of the government and the private sector as
well. Emphasis in providing protective services to these
needy children must be strengthen. Most often than not,
children related cases are treated under usual criminal
procedures. These are cases of child abuse like rape;
exploitation by adults, child labor, white slavery, acts
of lasciviousness; children in crisis like street and
urban working children.
The deteriorating family values and traditional belief and
practices of adults to children is another factor why the
number of disadvantaged children is increasing rapidly.
They are considered as the most vulnerable sector of the
society making them the targets of abuse, exploitation and
neglect either by the government, private / public sector
or even lawless elements. The inadequacy of a
comprehensive baseline data on children situation has
become a problem. Interventions provided by national and
local government are fallacious considering it does not
represent the majority as a whole . Program interventions
must not only apply to children but must also focused on
providing interventions to mothers or the family because
we cannot separate them from each other.
YOUTH:
The institutionalization of "ALAY LAKAD" funds to support
the educational need of out-of-school youths (OSY). Though
there are some private sectors, people's organizations,
government and non-government organizations who provide
financial support to some youth programs, the funds are
not sufficient enough to make the program sustainable.
Therefore, most youth programs are like mushrooms, they
come and go without visible impact.
The proliferation of drug addiction and mild cases of
prostitution is some colleges has plaque our youth. In
addition the penetration of vices and gangsteerism have
poison the mind of our young people which has become a
primordial concern of DECS, the local government and the
community in totality. Some mitigating factors gave rise
to the increasing number of OSY is the deteriorating
family values , economic opportunities, non-committal of
the local government to provide support mechanism to
ensure sustainable youth programs. The absence of
facilities to harness the potentials of the youth.
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY:
The Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) belongs to the
vulnerable sector of our society. We need to organize,
strengthen and support these group to make them productive
members of the society. The creation of Republic Act 7279
otherwise known as Magna Carta for Disabled Persons aimed
to provide for the rehabilitation ,self-development and
self-reliance of these group of people.
The Disabled Persons Affairs Committee (DPAC) has been
organized under the supervision of the Office of Social
Welfare and Development Services. To strengthen the
existence of these group, coordination among government
agencies is necessary to look after the affairs and
concerns of the PWDs. In order to systematize
participation, five (5) PWD volunteers were assigned to
motivate and encourage them to come into the open to
participate and become functional partners in development.
The city have encouraged the provision and enforcement of
accessibility for people with disabilities in the building
code, however, poor enforcement is evident in several
establishments and buildings because it lack support
facilities necessary to provide access to such amenities.
The problem of discrimination in their place of work has
also been a primary concerns which is actually a violation
of their human rights. Because of their disabilities, they
are considered second priority in terms of economic
opportunities.
ELDERLY:
With the existence of Republic Act 7432, otherwise known
as "An Act to Maximize the Contribution of Senior Citizens
to Nation Building", which was enacted to motivate and
encourage senior citizens to become active partners in
development and to mobilize their families as well as the
community to reaffirm their values as a person and active
participation to nation building.
Pursuant of R.A. 7432, the city has created by virtue of
Executive Order No. 05-93, Series of 1993, the creating
the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) under the
Office of the City Mayor. It has been in existence for the
last six years which its funding from the 20% Community
Development Fund. OSCA directly involves in the activities
of the elderly like physical fitness, providing simple
livelihood program with skills training's, attendance to
local / national conventions and socialization. Among the
major concern of the office is the processing and
distribution of "Senior Citizens Privilege Card" which is
actually a discount card of up to 20% for purchases like
medicines, food, hospitalization, transportation fares,
etc.
A registration of all senior citizens for membership to
the federation is necessary to avail of the privilege
card.
The establishment of more Senior Citizen's Centers where
they can interact and get acquainted to issues that would
require interventions from other sectors. The need to
formulate a comprehensive program that will focus on the
welfare of senior citizens and strategies to enable them
to become productive and active member of the society and,
not liabilities to development. Encourage the inclusion of
programs for senior citizens in the campaign for foreign
assisted projects to give more meaning in their fight for
existence.
Issues / Problems:
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Lack
of comprehensive baseline data for the disadvantaged
sectors and to provide personnel components that will be
in charge to look after their welfare under the
supervision of OSWDS;
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Lack
of meaningful convergence in implementation of
women/children-focused programs
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Absence of detention center for women and youth
offender;
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Lack
of facilities for children in disadvantaged situations
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Children related cases are treated under usual criminal
procedures
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The
lack of awareness on the United Nation's Declaration on
the Rights of a Chil
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Lack
of facilities to harness potential of youth;
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Limited financial support to programs/projects of women,
children, youth and people with disability ;
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Poor
enforcement of "accessibility" provision in the building
code;
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Laxity of community participation approaches in disaster
plan;
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Lack
Resources to respond to emergencies/disaster both
man-made or natural
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Absence of risk assessment on natural disaster in the
disaster plan;
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The
reactive approach to disaster management even when the
problem is still manageable.
GOALS / OBJECTIVES:
Enhancement of the delivery of social services in the city
to include a wider section of the city's population.
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To
promote a comprehensive approach in the development of
each focused group.
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To
organize/strengthen support groups for all the focused
groups;
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To
provide adequate and appropriate programs/facilities for
the alleviation of critical conditions of all focused
groups to enable them to participate in the mainstream
of development;
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To
adopt a comprehensive approach to disaster management;
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To
strengthen capability of communities in disaster
readiness and management;
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To
provide adequate and appropriate equipment and
facilities necessary for disaster management;
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To
promote broad-based awareness on disaster preparedness
and presentation;
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To
develop a preventive rather than a reactive approach to
disaster management.
POLICIES / STRATEGIES:
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Integration of women's concerns in all levels of
development planning and implementation to include the
provision of adequate resources,
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Effective and efficient monitoring and women's
participation;
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Establishment of mechanisms/structure for
gender-responsive policies ,program formulation and
implementation;
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Institutionalizing sex-disaggregated data base and
mainstreaming of gender issues in all aspects of
government concerns;
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Coordination of government agencies and non-government
organization to provide appropriate special
interventions of women in special circumstances
specifically those victims/survivors of violence and
armed conflict as well as special sectors of women
namely prostitutes ,adolescents, women with
disabilities, indigenous women and migrant
women/overseas contract workers; and
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Advocate continued consciousness-raising and affirmative
action such as training and other educational programs
aimed at enhancing women's self-development and
empowerment.
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Institutionalize Disaster Preparedness and Management
Program through the establishment of a Disaster
Operation and Nerve Center;
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Integration of a disaster and emergency preparedness and
public safety plan to include fire safety and
contingency plan, civil strife contingency plan &
contingency plan for natural disaster to the Disaster
Management Program;
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Preparation of a Comprehensive Disaster Management Plan
and Risks
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Assessment to include the installation of baseline data
on natural disaster; and
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Strengthening the organized City Disaster Coordinating
Council.
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Develop/generate baseline information for each focused
group;
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Advocate compassion and social responsibility towards
focused groups.
DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS AND NEEDS
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Preparation of Comprehensive Plan of Action for each
special focused group
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Establishment of baseline information for each special
focused group;
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Livelihood projects and access to lending/credit
facilities;
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Capability training programs;
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Health Care and Psychological services;
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Sports and recreational activities
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Alternative education programs/fieldtrips;
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Operational assistance for the strengthening/empowerment
of special focused groups;
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Procurement of equipment to pursue program support
activities;
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Organization of Barangay Council for the Protection of
children;
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Establishment of support groups;
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Early
childhood Development Program (Day Care Service)
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Provision of qualified personnel to handle special
focused groups concerns;
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Construction/provision of facilities for special;
focused groups
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Production of IBC material
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Conduct of Symposia and conventions/congress
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Lobby for enforcement of accessibility provision of
Building Code.
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Preparation of Comprehensive Disaster Management Pla
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Disaster Warning and Preparedness;
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Installation of warning system;
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Strengthening of Barangay Disaster Management Committee;
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Inventory of Resources, evacuation centers, water
sources ,food resources, fuel and gasoline , equipment
,etc.;
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Procurement of appropriate equipment;
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Institutionalization of Disaster Management Program ;
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Provision of stand-by funds for emergency situations not
otherwise covered by the restrictive provisions on the
utilization of Calamity Fund in the regular budget
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Networking with law enforcement agencies;
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Training to improve capability of volunteers as well as
program implementors.
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Production of IEC materials;
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Conduct of drills and symposia.
PROTECTIVE SERVICES
Profile
Cotabato City Police Station is composed of six (6)
divisions namely: Patrol, Traffic, Investigation,
Administrative, Service and Jail Division. It has a total
of 315 personnel assigned in the different divisions
depending upon their tasks and responsibilities. Table
below shows the distribution of personnel from 1998-1999
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