QUEZON City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte has put up a special care center for disabled kids, the first among local governments in the country.
She said the Kabahagi Resource Center for Children with Disabilities was conceptualized and funded by the Office of the Vice Mayor with the support of the barangays and other concerned city hall offices, national government agencies, people’s organizations, medical professionals and the private sector.
“I feel we lack programs for children with disabilities. We seriously lack services that we should have long been providing to them so I thought of coming up with such facility,” Belmonte said.
The special care center located in Barangay Batasan Hills is set to be inaugurated next month with former senator and now Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano, whose one of the advocacies is PWD welfare, as “ninang,” she said.
“We realized there are some problems like, for example, in terms of assessment, early intervention, treating the patients, they cannot afford to pay therapists and developmental pediatricians. That is quite expensive,” the vice mayor noted.
“Often, disabled children from poor families never, ever go to school because they simply have no access to primary care,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Quezon City Council has granted a special use permits to a corporation allowing it to operate electronic game establishments in Barangay Holy Spirit and Barangay Tandang Sora.
City Resolutions 7331-2017 and 7334-2017, introduced by Councilor Ivy Xenia L. Lagman, said that Total Gamezone Xtreme, Inc. is being issued special permits to operate e-games establishments in Holy Spirit Drive and Visayas Avenue.
The issuance of the special permits is in accordance to Ordinance 2285-2014, pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991.
“The aforesaid business activities will provide employment to the residents and additional revenue to the city government, thereby boosting the city’s economy for the welfare of its inhabitants,” the resolution read.
Further, the issuance of the permit is subjected to the rules and regulations promulgated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
The authorization is also granted subject to conditions including: the establishment should only be for the playing of e-games; minors should be prohibited from playing e-games, and; the operator should remit to the City Treasurer a franchise fee of three percent of their gross revenue.