City Hall to inaugurate child-minding center

CEBU - Mothers working at the Cebu City Hall who do not have nannies at home can already bring their children to their workplace because the city government will finally inaugurate its child-minding center on Friday.

Councilor Roberto “Bob” Cabarrubias, who personally supervised the construction of the day-care center, explained that Mayor Tomas Osmeña strongly supports the project as it will result to better performance by the concerned parents.

Cabarrubias said that while mothers act as the primary caregivers of their children, many of them are forced to leave their homes during the day to earn a living, and some of them do not have options but to bring their young children to their workplace or leave them in the care of neighbors.

The councilor said there is a growing need to extend early childhood care and development at City Hall so that employees’ children can be taken care of better while their parents are busy at work. 

The early childhood care center in the workplace provides the assurance to employed parents, especially mothers, of their young children’s safety and well being thus keeping them less stressed and worried.

Former president Fidel V. Ramos issued the Executive Order 340 in 1997 requiring the officials of the national government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations to provide day-care services for their employee’s children below five years of age.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama said that with the assigning of an ECCD officer at the center, employed parents, especially mothers, will be assured of their children’s safety and well-being.

With the creation of said child-minding center at City Hall, employed mothers can enhance their productivity because they are now emotionally secure and confident that their kids are properly taken care of.

“This is a support service for parents to enable them to concentrate on their work with the assurance that their children are cared for,” Cabarrubias said.

The directive said the center should be preferably located on the ground floor. If such a location is not available the center should be properly secured to prevent children from falling.

But the use of the center is not totally free because the concerned parents is still required to pay P20 registration fee for every session, one session in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Cabarrubias explained that the necessary diapers or clothes, medicines, vitamins, milk, nursing bottles and others must be brought with the child in the child-minding center. An arrangement regarding food should be made with the parents. –Rene U. Borromeo/WAB (THE FREEMAN)