Bacolod City was adjudged as the Most Child-Friendly City in the Philippines in the regional level for the second time and is a finalist for the search for the 2009 Most Child-Friendly City under the highly urbanized category in the national level.

Other contenders for the national award under the highly urbanized category are the cities of Makati, Naga, Santiago, Olongapo, Baguio, and Cebu.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said Bacolod City also won second place in the national competition in 2007 while Naga won first place then.

He said there is a team now in Bacolod that will evaluate the findings at the regional level. Bacolod is a finalist in the national level and he is happy that the city is always in that level, he added.

Vicenta Borja, co-chairman of the evaluation committee and supervising health program officer of the Department of Health, said they would like to recognize the Child-Friendly cities and municipalities because they want to recognize the local government units and executives who have been helping the country in promoting child survival in the areas of promotion, development, participation and protection.

She said the children are the most vulnerable population in the society.

“So if we want good citizens and good people who will be good leaders in the future, we have to take care of our children by providing them the social needs that they need like education and health,” she said.

Borja said the children have the right to be born, to be given a name, to be protected, to be developed and to be allowed to participate in decision-making.

“With this, we will be assured that in the future, we will be having good leaders in the country so we really have to invest in our children,” she said.

This is the main reason why they have to recognize LGUs like Bacolod City, Borja said.*CGS

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