The Department of Interior and Local Government has given the Quezon City government a perfect score for its efforts to combat human trafficking, and violence against women and children (VAWC).
Maria Lourdes Agustin, DILG-National Capital Region director, informed Mayor Joy Belmonte that the city government has earned an overall score of 100 percent or equivalent adjectival rating of IDEAL following an audit conducted by its Regional lnter-Agency Monitoring Team (RIMT) for Performance Year 2021.
The local government garnered a perfect score based on the following criteria — Organization (10 percent), Meetings (10 percent), Policies, Plan and Budget (40 percent), and Accomplishments (40 percent).
Agustin lauded the Quezon City committee on anti-trafficking and VAWC for participating in the 2022 Local Committees on Anti-Trafficking and Violence Against Women and their Children (LCAT-VAWC) functionality assessment.
“RIMT commends the committee for its accomplishments and for introducing ideas or innovations which added value to the implementation of programs on anti-trafficking and violence against women and children,” she said.
“We hope that these assessment results and recommendations will serve as guides in determining the next steps and areas for improvement that must be taken into consideration in order for the Committee to level-up its performance,” Agustin added. Rio N. Araja
Belmonte thanked the DILG, and vowed to not to rest on their laurels, and to continue improving its plans and programs to combat anti-trafficking and VAWC.
“This recognition would fuel our drive to further improve our programs, projects and policies on violence against women and children and anti-trafficking,” she said.
As part of its efforts to track and respond to reported VAWC cases, the Quezon City government launched the QC VAW Centralized Databank System, a unified database which will be used by the VAWC desk officers in the 142 barangays and police stations.
Belmonte urged the QCitizens to report abuses against women and children through QC Protection Center through Hotline 122, or to the barangay and the women’s desk of the Quezon City Police District.
She mandated the QCPD, QC Protection Center, and Gender and Development office to closely monitor and act swiftly on calls and reports pertaining to VAWC and other gender-based incidents. Rio N. Araja