Batang Pinangga: A home for the homeless #28StoriesofGiving

MANILA, Philippines - Their innocence lost to the wily ways of the city, children roam thoroughfares and beg for food, some of them falling prey to unscrupulous syndicates. When weather permits, the streets don’t just serve as their playground, they also become home.

The alarming phenomenon of street children and cases of child abuse and abandonment point to rising poverty among Filipino families, says Juda “Butch” Carpintero, executive director of Batang Pinangga Foundation Inc.

“Mas dumami ang mga batang lansangan. Nakakalungkot tingnan, nakakaawang isipin ang kanilang kalagayan (The number of street children is on the rise. Their plight saddens us),” he said.

For 14 years, Batang Pinangga Foundation Inc. has been building caring communities and finding a homes for abused, abandoned and neglected children. “Batang Pinangga” means “beloved child” in Cebuano.

The foundation believes that reviving the once caring Filipino community that would take back the children from the streets is a long-term concern and not a fleeting work of charity.

Through its residential care program, the foundation currently has 28 children from across Cebu province in its care, eight of whom are teenagers.

The erstwhile street denizens are provided primary care such as food, shelter, clothing, hygiene, health and education. They are also given therapy sessions and value-formation sessions through counseling, recreational and therapeutic activities.

House parents ensure that they are provided round-the-clock guidance and appropriate care to help them recover from their difficult situations.

Located in Barangay Triumfo, Carmen, Cebu, Batang Pinangga’s four-hectare site houses five children residential houses, activity and recreation center and a spacious playground, which is also open to the community.

Two hectares of the land are dedicated to farming to develop and prepare the child to become a responsible member of the community.

Each house accommodates 12 children and a house parent. Teenagers, on the other hand, are allowed to live in one of the houses on their own to learn the value of independence and self-reliance. There are four house parents and two social workers.

Social worker Emma Bantiles cited that most of the children brought to the foundation are deprived of education and health since their respective families could not sustain their needs.

“Maraming uneducated and malnourished na mga bata pagdating nila dito sa center. Minsan, 12 to 13 years old na ay nasa Grade 3 pa,” she said.

The center, which also attends to the needs of special children and rape victims, helps find a home for the children they have taken in.

Bantiles said that rescued children are required to stay in the shelter for six months to one year, depending on their case, before they are brought to their foster families.

Some are returned to their biological parents but are sent back to the foundation if circumstances warrant.

“Society at large must prioritize our children and their needs. Every family, especially parents, is responsible for their care,” she said in Filipino.

The foundation, according to Carpintero, survives on donations from locals and from funds raised by friends in the Netherlands.

“We encounter challenges every year but we have to continue with this mission we have started for the sake of children who need our help,” he said.

Apart from financial assistance, Batang Pinangga needs donations of food, clothing, items for personal hygiene, groceries, household utensils and utilities, and seedlings for the farm.

In a month, the shelter consumes eight sacks of rice.

Carpintero further calls on the government to strictly implement laws related to the promotion of children’s welfare, especially with the proliferation of cybercrime cases involving the youth.

Educational programs for the Filipino youth, he advised, should be given priority.

He also gave assurance that Batang Pinangga Foundation is committed to take an active role in raising awareness of the Filipino community to the plight and needs of disadvantaged children.

To help the foundation, one can be an adoptive parent, sponsor the schooling of a child, support the honorarium of a caregiver or share one’s technical and professional expertise and facilitate child development activities.

Benefactors and donations of any kind are also welcome. For details, call Butch Carpintero at 0917-6169638 or Emma Bantiles at 0906-2251754. They may also be reached via email [email protected]. or via www.batangpinangga.org.

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