By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
The mother of a one-year-old baby, who she left unattended inside a parked car in Pasig City, will undergo counseling to ensure her capacity to take care and safeguard the child’s welfare.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Acting Secretary Virginia Orogo (PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Virginia Orogo personally met with the child’s mother who was full of remorse for leaving her child alone.
The mother, who voluntarily came to the DSWD, admitted that it was the first time she left her child in the car. She vowed never to do it again.
Orogo pointed out the necessity for parents to be more responsible and to ensure the safety and security of their children at all times.
“Parents have the utmost responsibility to take care of their children and provide them with proper love, attention, and support. They should always guarantee that the needs of their children are satisfied to ensure their holistic growth and to protect them from harm,” Orogo said.
She also appealed to the public that if an issue needs action from the DSWD, the members of the public can always directly message the agency through its social media pages and contact numbers to avoid creating trauma or misunderstandings caused by bashing on social media.
“It is not healthy to give early judgments because we should always look at both sides of the story. As responsible social media users, we need to learn to discern the truth, to be compassionate, and respectful,” she explained.
Orogo has already directed social workers of the DSWD to interview and counsel the child’s mother to assess her capacity to perform her parenting roles.
A series of home visit and follow up interviews with the mother including the child’s father and other relatives will also be held in the coming weeks to determine other interventions to be done.
"Our social workers will recommend to me whether there is a need to take custody of the child or to just strengthen counseling with the mother and father as parenting is their shared responsibility,” she said.
“Our social workers who interviewed the mother are the best persons to determine if the mother can perform her role or not, based on the interviews and home visits,” she added.