Center for abused children, women up in Valenzuela

The Valenzuela City government has taken steps to provide care and moral support to the battered women and children of the city through the establishment of the Gender and Development (GAD) Reception and Action Center.

A program of the national government to assist the marginalized sector of society, Valenzuela Mayor Bobbit Carlos opened recently the city’s version of the GAD center, which aims to render gender-oriented public service, particularly on creating women and children’s awareness of their basic rights, as well as providing them with legal, moral and spiritual support.

Managed by the mayor’s wife, Rita Carlos, the 24-hour, seven-days a week action center, also extends assistance to the victims of sexual harassment, domestic violence, social injustice, work-related discrimination and other forms of abuses. Just recently, the GAD center provided a decent burial to a six-month-old male fetus found along a street in Barangay Malinta. The fetus was baptized as "Baby Angel" and was properly buried at the Arkong Bato cemetery in the city.

The center has two psychiatrists who listen to the problems of women and children and refer them to concerned government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), the police or Valenzuela’s Bahay Kalinga Foundation.

Nenette Baroga, one of GAD’s counselors, said other social ills being looked into by the center are the growing incidents of child abuse and pornography with women as the primary victims. Mrs. Carlos, also president of the Valenzuela We Care Foundation, added that the GAD center is also campaigning for progressive outlook and gender equality and justice for the city residents.