Las Piñas Representative Camille Villar on Thursday welcomed the signing of Republic Act No. 12199, or the Early Childhood Care and Development System (ECCD) Act, saying it will help reduce infant and child mortality in the country by ensuring access to proper health and nutrition from pregnancy through early childhood.
“This law will boost our government’s policies in nurturing our children, from birth to toddler years. I am glad that this law saw the light of day,” said Villar, one of the measure’s principal authors in the House of Representatives.
RA 12199 institutionalizes a comprehensive approach to early childhood care. It ensures the delivery of adequate health and nutrition programs to young children, as well as support for parents and parent-substitutes starting from the prenatal stage through early childhood.
“The development of children, from birth to their toddler years, is important. Sadly, many Filipino families are unable to fully take care of these needs due to various reasons,” Villar said.
The law seeks to safeguard the right of every child to holistic well-being and age-appropriate development, and calls for the creation of nurturing environments for children, with dedicated programs for nutrition, protection, and early learning.
Local government units (LGUs) are tasked with the primary implementation of the law. They are expected to establish ECCD offices, create plantilla positions for child development teachers (CDTs) and workers (CDWs), and allocate essential resources for early childhood programs.
To address long-standing issues of low pay and underemployment in the sector, the law also mandates the professionalization of ECCD workers by setting standards for qualifications, training, certification, and salaries.
Villar, who is poised to join the Senate in the 20th Congress based on partial unofficial results of the May 12 elections, emphasized that the law reflects the government’s commitment to the welfare and development of the country’s youngest citizens.
