Batang Pinangga chief to LGU executives: Prove you truly care for child welfare

CEBU, Philippines - The executive director of the Batang Pinangga Foundation, one of the partners of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., challenged local government officials to “prove that they are child friendly.”

Judah “Butch” Carpintero expressed his frustration over the fact that most Filipinos do not give much importance on helping abused, neglected and abandoned children compared to foreigners, like the participants of the Meerlanden Youth Cebu cultural exchange program, who travel miles away from home just to carry out volunteer works here.

Batang Pinangga has 25 children under its care. These are children who suffered all forms of abuse, as well as neglect and abandonment. The children are now living in a home-like environment through the foundation’s residential care program which aims to offer them therapy to cope with the trauma brought about by the difficult situations they had experienced.

The children stay at the foundation until they are prepared to live with an adoptive family.

Batang Pinangga is located on a four-hectare site in barangay Triumfo, Carmen town with houses for children, an activity and recreation center, and a spacious playground that is open to the community; with another two hectares dedicated to farming.

The problem of child abuse and neglect in the Philippines is becoming highly visible on the streets. The poverty situation of most Filipinos made their children most vulnerable, this was further learned from Carpintero.

Here in Cebu and elsewhere in the country, children roam around begging for food, are used in syndicated crimes, become victims of prostitution and drugs and make the streets their home - situations that mirror extreme poverty and neglect, Carpintero pointed out.

The government has yet to prove true to its promise of poverty alleviation, which, by looking at its budget priorities and economic policies, is a long wait, he added.

The children need help now so to put to them their dignity back, he said. — Johanna T. Natavio/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)