QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista vowed on Sunday to build good shelter for children in conflict with the law and kids who have been abandoned by their families owing to poverty.
On orders of Bautista, the city government has approved a P129-million budgetary requirement for the construction of a four-story New Molave Youth Home, or the Bahay Pag-asa Building, for juvenile delinquents apprehended in Quezon City and with pending cases before the city courts.
Those who are in the custody of the city-run Molave Youth Home located inside the city hall premises shall be transferred.
Bautista said the rehabilitation complex will be built at Diamond Hills Subdivision in Barangay Payatas.
The new Molave Youth Home formed part of the P2-billion modernization program of the city for public safety.
Marisol Casabuena, Social Services and Development Department’s Residential and Rehabilitation Division acting chief, described the soon-to-be-built Molave Youth Home in Payatas as a welcome development in the effort of improving the living condition of children-in-conflict with the law.
The new facility will be spacious, and that its design will address the needs of the children as compared to the old facility, which was established in the 1970s.
It will stand on a 2,000-square meter space to accommodate 350 children.
The first floor of the building shall serve as an office and multidisciplinary venue, while the dormitories shall be located on the second and third floors.
The fourth floor shall be utilized as a recreational area and for the socialization activities.
The new structure will also have its own chapel, special education rooms and isolation rooms to treat children with health issues.
Bautista also poured in some P22 million for the construction and initial operationalization of a two-story halfway house at the Bernardo Park compound in Kamuning.
Of the P22-million budget requirement, P14 million will be spent for the construction and the remaining P8 million for the initial one-year operationalization.
The city’s halfway home will accommodate about 50 minors aged 15 to 18 who have been discharged from the Molave Youth Home.
“We wish to give those children a chance to reintegrate themselves to our society,” the mayor said.