PH creates one-stop system for reporting child rights violations

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of a one-stop system for reporting child rights violations.

Through Executive Order (EO) 79, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Dec. 6, Marcos approved the establishment of the Mahalin at Kalingain Ating mga Bata (Makabata) Program and institutionalized the Makabata Helpline 1383.

READ: CWC wants child welfare hotline institutionalized

The Makabata Program will establish a one-stop system for addressing and monitoring all issues and concerns related to children needing special protections (CNSPs), including reporting, rescue and relief, rehabilitation, and reintegration.

It tasked the Department of Social Welfare and Development to implement the program, with the Council for the Welfare of Children as the overall coordinating and monitoring body.

Makabata Helpline 1383 will continue to serve as the dedicated hotline number for the program operating round the clock.

“All concerns received through any of the communication platforms of the Makabata Helpline 1383 shall be immediately acted upon or referred, directly or indirectly, to concerned government agencies and instrumentalities, including LGUs (local government units) and private sector partners, for appropriate action and/or intervention,” the EO reads.

Under the order, CNSPs are defined as those below 18 years old or those 18 years old and over but are unable to fully take care of themselves because of physical or mental disability or conditions and are vulnerable to, or are victims of abuse, neglect, exploitation, cruelty, discrimination, violence, and other similar circumstances.

CNSPs also refer to children in conflict with the law, children living in alternative care, and children living with human immunodeficiency virus.