CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY--Officers, members, and stakeholders of the Northern Mindanao Regional Development Council (RDC-X) Social Development Committee gathered on 19 September 2023 at the Pearlmont Hotel here for its third quarter meeting.
Gingoog City Mayor Erick G. Cañosa, SDC-X Chairperson, presided over the meeting which was hosted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development-X.
During said meeting, the Committee, among others, supported and endorsed to the RDC-X the adoption of the school-based information campaign video against illegal recruitment by Communist Terrorists Groups (CTGs) as viewing material among junior and senior high school learners and first-year college students in the region. The campaign video, produced by the 2nd Mechanized Brigade, Philippine Army, is an intervention to educate students about the deceptive schemes employed by CTGs in their recruitment activities, particularly in schools targeting the youth.
The SDC-X also endorsed to the RDC-X the Northern Mindanao Regional Development Policy Research Agenda 2023-2028 of the Social Sector and the Northern Bukidnon State College’s call for support for the conduct of Phase 2 and validation activities relative to the research study on “Factors Influencing Incidence of Teenage Pregnancy in Region X.” The results of the study will aid policymakers in developing evidence-based policies and strategies to address the increasing incidence of teenage pregnancy in the region.
Also approved by the Committee is the Philippine Mental Health Association CDO-MisOr Chapter’s call for support for the region’s observance of the National Mental Health Week (NMHW) in the second week of October 2023. Said activity aims to collaborate with stakeholders for mental health awareness and suicide prevention, drumbeat for Cagayan de Oro City’s Mental Health Ordinance, and localize referral pathways.
The Commission on Higher Education-X apprised the Committee members about the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) for Private and Public Higher Education Institutions, one of the four programs of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or RA 10931. The TES provides a P40,000 subsidy per student per academic year to eligible students enrolled in state universities and colleges and P60,000 in CHED-recognized private higher education institutions based on the availability of funds and order of prioritization.
The meeting also gathered the Committee’s support to House Bill Number 7216 or the Universal Accessibility Act of 2023, House Bill No. 8269 (19th Congress) or “An Act Protecting the Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Penalizing the Acts of Arbitrary Internal Displacement,” Republic Act 11291 or “An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of the Poor,” and the Regional Tripartite Industrial Peace Council Northern Mindanao Resolution No. 2 (s. 2023), “Urge the Local Government Unit or other concerned government agency within Northern Mindanao to implement the conduct of technical advisory under DOLE Department Order No. 238 (s. 2023), “Rules on the Administration and Enforcement of Labor Standards Pursuant to Article 128 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as Renumbered, and Republic Act No. 11058.”
Also tackled during the meeting were the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development’s Rental Subsidy and Financial Assistance Program and the status of inclusion of the Social Development Sector-RDC-X Endorsed FY 2024 Regional Budget Proposal in the FY 2024 National Expenditure Program. (NEDA-X/PIA-10)
