00:00On top of the news, if back then it took an entire village to wear a child, these days a whole-of-government approach is key to ensure kids are trained, schooled, and nourished properly in their formative years, from birth to five years of age, to have a strong foundation needed to survive and succeed in his or her adolescence and adulthood.
00:23Our Kenneth Paciente, owner-president, institutionalizing an act of Congress earlier today on early childhood care and development that significantly raises the odds of chances of kids growing healthy in body and mind.
00:38To further strengthen the care for Filipino children, President Ferdinand R. Marcus, Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12199 or the Early Childhood Care and Development System Act, which aims to strengthen education, nutrition, and protection of children from birth to five years old.
00:57Its goal is to provide children with a strong foundation at the earliest stage of their lives.
01:01The Early Childhood Care and Development Council will lead the care of children under the age of five, while the Department of Education or DepEd will be in charge of children aged five to eight.
01:12The law also ensures services for children with disabilities, including early intervention and inclusive education.
01:19The system involves wide-ranging coordination among government agencies and local government units for nationwide implementation.
01:25Senate Committee on Basic Education, chairperson and sponsor of the law, Senator Sherwin Gachalian, praised this move by the President.
01:33He pointed out that focusing on the foundation of children, especially at a young age, is important because their learning depends on it.
01:39The Second Congressional Commission on Education also welcomed the law, saying it puts the education system in the right direction to address the root causes of challenges in reading and writing by focusing on early childhood nutrition and education.
01:53According to EDCOM 2, studies show that addressing the foundation years of children helps solve problems such as dropout rates and improves literacy.
02:02In April, it may be recalled that the President witnessed the signing of a Joint Memorandum Circular on the Establishment of Child Development Centers or CDCs.
02:10The target is to build around 300 CDCs with priority given to low-income baranguies that do not yet have a CDC.
02:17Under the guidelines of the Joint Circular, LGUs must submit their budget request through the DBM apps portal, wherein DepEd will review and recommend qualified projects.
02:27These CDCs are venues for the implementation of early childhood care and development center programs and services, especially the early learning programs and family support program.
02:39Sa mga center na ito, maaaring makapaglaro, makapagbasa, at makapag-aral ang ating mga kabataan.
02:48It can also be used as a resource center for developmentally appropriate learning materials in a laboratory for conducting research, data gathering, and innovations about early childhood.
