Pagadian city: Zamboanga del Sur 2nd District Rep. Aurora Enerio Cerilles said last week a
bill providing emergency relief and protection for children during disasters,
calamities and other emergency situations is being filed in Congress.
Cerilles,
chairman of the Committee on the Welfare of Children, declared the bill will
set the principles to guide humanitarians and make necessary for government
agencies to perform priority action to protect the rights of children.
The
congresswoman said children are among the worst affected and most vulnerable in
the country where an average of 20 typhoons visit us yearly, including
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and similar catastrophe.
Tarlac
2nd District Rep. Susan A. Yap, author of HB 5062, said more than
10,000 children were affected by Yolanda last year and are still living in
difficult situations in evacuation centers suffering the uncertainty of their
education, welfare and health.
Yap
was citing the study of Save the Children Philippines, said that six children
died after their tent in the evacuation center was razed by fire, which caused many
of them to skip the current school year and are now engaged in harsh and
dangerous labor.
Yap
added that thousands of children died during the upshot of typhoon Yolanda
while those who survived experienced psychosocial trauma and difficulties in
evacuation centers, and are even exploited and abused due to lack of social
protection.