Center for women, kids in need of more funds

CEBU - Development planners in the region are appealing to congressmen, senators, local government units and non-government organizations to contribute funds for the operations of the Women and Children Protection Unit of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

During its recent full council meeting, the Regional Development Council passed a resolution requesting the legislators and local government officials to set aside funds for the WCPU, which caters to the needs of women and children victims of violence.

Development Administration Committee (DAC) chairman Roderick Poca, who introduced the resolution, said the funds provided by the VSMMC for the operations of the center were insufficient.

During the meeting of the Social Development Committee, it was reported that the reason for inadequate funds is the reduction in the hospital’s existing budget allocation.

The budget for VSMMC is allegedly set only for a 400-bed capacity hospital even if it is already serving more than 750 patients.

Considering that the Department of Health’s 2009 expenditure program is already up for approval and the funding of the WCPU-VSMMC was not included, Poca said his committee recommended that funds for the 2009 operations of the center be taken from the contributions of the congressmen, senators, local government units and NGOs in Central Visayas.

The inclusion of the WCPU-VSMMC in the 2010 budget proposal of the DOH Regional Office under VSMMC should be worked out for it to be included in the General Appropriation Act, he said.

In a memorandum dated February 5, 1997, the DOH issued an administrative order directing all DOH-managed hospitals to institutionalize the creation of a unit that will answer the medical and psychological need of victims of violence. The center was known as Women and Children Protection Unit or WCPU.

Poca said that the funding of the center, which is also provided by contributions from non-government organizations and other funding donors, has already declined but the number of clients that the center is serving has been increasing.

“The DAC-SDC recognized the need to sustain the operations of the WCPU-VSMMC to fully serve the women and children who are victims of domestic violence,” Poca said.

The WCPU of the VSMMC is located in a separate building constructed for the purpose with funding assistance from former Senator Vicente Sotto III and is being managed by contractual staffs. — Garry B. Lao/WAB (THE FREEMAN)