MANILA, Philippines — At Brighthalls, a temporary home for abandoned, neglected and surrendered children, nothing could be brighter than the cherubic smiles on the innocent faces of babies.
“We now have 14 children, one of whom is being adopted,” says Atty. Jayjay Puno, with a smile as bright as sunshine.
For the past seven years, babies no older than three years old have been carried across the threshold of the Brighthalls home, each with a poignant story to tell. There were babies found wrapped in plastic bags, a baby left at the Quezon Memorial Circle, another in a Sarao jeepney, and still another baby left out in the cold at Rizal Park.
“They were brought to us here at Brighthalls, where we take care of abandoned, surrendered (by parents who can no longer take care of the baby as they have too many children) or neglected infants,” relates Paquito “Pen” Roque. “We appeal to these parents to turn over their babies to a caring agency (like Brighthalls Children’s Foundation) instead of leaving them in the streets so their babies are taken care of right away.”
It all started with five friends — Nancy Binay-Angeles (before she became senator), chairman of the board; Pen Roque, president; Atty. Jayjay Puno, treasurer; and co-founders Ronald Pineda and Shiela Romero — who selflessly share a simple hope for abandoned, neglected or surrendered infants and children to have a safe and comfortable place to stay.
“We’re committed to providing a temporary home that is peaceful and safe, and a loving family environment while the children wait for a permanent adoptive home or to be reintegrated with their birth families or relatives (which the Department of Social Works prioritizes over adoption),” Pen points out. “It’s a hall for love, care, recovery, and healing for these abandoned babies.”
He elaborates, “Our name stands for what we believe in — a fighting chance for these abandoned children to have a brighter future.”
“The opportunity to help was there,” declares Senator Nancy Binay-Angeles, mom to four active children. “My mother is an ob-gyne and when she was single, she took care of two kids. When I was growing up, we would adopt kids for Christmas.”
“My family members have adopted children left on the doorstep of our homes,” says Melvin Mangada. “I guess we should advocate proper education and proper legislation so there would be less of these cases.”
“We should change the Filipino parents’ mindset that having more children means more to take care of them in their old age,” suggests Senator Binay-Angeles.
Of course, keeping a home for a lot of babies has had its share of labor pains. The past seven years have not been easy for Brighthalls, especially when a child gets sick and has to be hospitalized. There are the registered nurses and caregivers who are available 24/7. The cost of providing food, shelter, and clothing for a child has certainly increased over the years.
“There were times when we wanted to give up, but suddenly help would come,” says Nancy with a sigh.
“Like when we lost our old place in Quezon City,” Jayjay recounts. “All of sudden, one of our trustees, Atty. Norman Golez, bought a house in Makati, so here we are now.”
The new, bigger home has rooms for infants, toddlers, and crawlers.
Pen discloses, “We’d like to share this beautiful experience and advocacy of loving and caring with our friends, families, the community and society, so as to inspire them to help in their own unique way. We’d like to increase awareness of the reality that each child is special, uniquely crafted, and deserves a loving family.”
“The experience has given us more than we’ve given these children,” confesses Jayjay. “We’re inspired by the children who remain so happy and pleasant despite their circumstances. We just hope others would be inspired to help — whether in time (volunteering), in cash or in kind.”
Certainly, nothing could put a brighter smile on the faces of the people behind Brighthalls than for every abandoned baby to finally find a loving, happy home.
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Brighthalls Children’s Foundation has a new home located at 1766 Dumas St., Barangay La Paz, San Antonio, Makati. For inquiries, call O9175296476.