BONTOC, Mountain Province – Early Childhood Care and Development Workers (ECCDWs) in this capital town are guaranteed the financial assistance they are receiving from the Bontoc Local Government Unit (LGU) despite the expected changes in administration and leadership.
Authored by Councilor Alsannyster Patingan, the Sangguniang Bayan approved Ordinance No. 345, s. 2021, institutionalizing the Financial Assistance to ECCD (Day Care) Workers Program of Bontoc recognizing that they have an indispensable capacity in assisting children in their development that is part of the municipal government’s effective delivery of basic and necessary services to its constituents. The ordinance took effect on January 1, 2022.
The ordinance states that the Bontoc LGU has been providing financial assistance for the ECCD workers who are not under the plantilla positions of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO). However, the financial aid was never formally integrated as a regular program of the Bontoc LGU. Thus, without institutionalization as a formal program, the provision of financial assistance to the Day Care workers depends on the next administration or leadership either to continue or end the program.
As stipulated in the ordinance, each ECCDW shall be entitled to the financial assistance of P3, 700 per month, over and above all aids, grants, and incentives given to them by the barangay. The Local Chief Executive is authorized to increase, but not to decrease the financial assistance through an Executive Order without going through the arduous process of amending the ordinance.
For inclusion to the Financial Assistance to ECCD (Day Care) Workers Program, the Punong Barangay shall formally seek the conformity of the LCE if he/she intends to appoint any additional ECCD Worker to his/ her barangay. Lack of conformity by the LCE or failure to seek such conformity shall not nullify the appointment made, only that the appointee shall not be included in the program but will still receive other benefits due to him/ her except for the financial assistance.
According to Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer Araceli Shane Bayanos, the Day ECCD Workers started to receive a P3, 700 each from the Bontoc LGU in 2019. In the past years, they receive P3, 200 each.
Per record, four Day Care Workers are regular employees or under the plantilla position of the MSWDO while 25 are receiving honoraria from the Bontoc LGU and barangay counterpart.
For the School Year 2021-2022, there are 427 Day Care children enrolled in the Child Development Centers (CDCs) in the municipality. There are 29 CDCs in Bontoc.
Mayor Franklin Odsey remarked that the municipal government has always been supportive of the social and education sectors.
“We recognized the hard work of our Day Care Workers who are in the front line in bringing quality education in their respective barangays. Thus, it is high time they are given priority as they are one of the pillars of a child’s future. Despite the change in leadership, the institutionalization of the program provides the security and assurance of the financial assistance they are receiving as an incentive for all their hard work,” Odsey mentioned.
He added that the institutionalization of the Financial Assistance to ECCD (Day Care) Workers Program is a result of a harmonious alliance between the chief executive and the legislative in the improvement and implementation of the government’s program for a progressive Bontoc. //