DAVAO CITY—Bangsamoro lawmakers are pushing for the establishment of orphanages across its provinces to provide adequate welfare support to orphans and to prevent them from getting more vulnerable to further poverty and crime.
The bill would complement another proposal to create the agency on population management and development to help the Bangsamoro region manage its population and achieve its human development goals.
“For a child who has lost a parent, life is filled with hardships. In the absence of early child and development support, the orphaned child is one of those most vulnerable to poverty, radicalization, and criminality,” said the Members of the Parliament (MP) who authored Parliament Bill No. 112, also known as the Bangsamoro Orphanage Act of 2022.
The bill would like accredited orphanages constructed and institutionalized in each province to improve the living conditions of all orphans “and give them a chance to live a fulfilled life.”
The bill would also want a monitoring and evaluation system for orphaned minors be created to determine the eligible beneficiaries and craft the appropriate model for the orphanage in the community.
If approved, the Ministry of Social Services and Development would be the implementing agency and it would be supported by provincial, municipal, and city social welfare development offices, including the Ministry of Interior and Local Government. Provincial, municipal and barangay local government units and a traditional leader and ulama or imam of each province in the region would also be asked to lend support.
Orphanages would be provided with basic needs, physical safety and security, as well as socioeconomic needs, educational needs, emotional and spiritual needs, and access to justice.
Orphaned minors, as described in PB No. 122, are those who are under the age of 18, do not have a legal guardian, and have lost both biological parents. But orphaned children who have attained the age of 18 or who have been adopted are no longer eligible for the program.
PB No. 112 is principally authored by MPs Diamila Disimban Ramos, Ali Solaiman, Marjanie Macasalong, Abdullah Macapaar, Basit Abbas, Said Sheik, Khalid Hadji Abdullah, Eddie Alih, Amilbahar Mawallil, Nabila Margarita Pangandaman, and Abdulazis Amenodin.
Meanwhile, another proposal was filed at the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the interim Parliament, to create the Bangsamoro Commission on Population Management and Development to help the Bangsamoro government ensure an improved mechanism and support in implementing the population management program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
BTA Bill No. 110, or the Bangsamoro Commission on Population and Development Act of 2022 “seeks to create an enabling environment for people to achieve their development goals through a well-managed population.”