Recognizing the challenges faced by working parents, especially solo parents, Cainta, Rizal Mayor Kit Nieto plans to propose a “nursing home for babies” program, offering daytime care for infants while their parents are at work.

The mayor said the proposal was inspired by a single mother who came to his office seeking financial assistance after struggling to find someone to care for her baby while she worked.

According to Nieto, the mother had hoped to use the financial aid for transportation costs so she could bring her child to Camarines Sur, where her own mother could look after the baby while she continued working.

The mother said she works as a housemaid but has been having difficulty keeping her job because children are not allowed at her workplace. She added that she is also a solo parent.

“Tinitigan ko 'yung bata. Mapapaisip ka na lang… sa maliit na kita, maghihiwalay ang mag nanay para mabuhay? Lumalaki 'yung bata na ‘di sila magkasama? Wala ba talagang paraan? (I looked at the child and couldn’t help but wonder: with such a small income, must a mother be separated from her child just to make a living? Does the child have to grow up away from their mother? Is there really no other way?),” Nieto said.

With that, he suggested hiring the mother under the municipal government and assigning her as a street sweeper in the area where she lives so she could work closer to home and continue caring for her child.

“Dahil ‘di naman ‘yun matakaw sa oras, ‘pag napatulog mo ang bata, at saka ka magtrabaho (Because it doesn’t really take much time. Once you put the child to sleep, that’s when you can start working),” he told the mother.

“Hanggang umabot siya ng tatlong taong gulang. Pagsapit niya sa edad na 'yun, ipasok mo na siya sa day care center natin para may mag-aalaga sa kanya habang nasa work ka (Until your baby reaches three years old. Once the child reaches that age, enroll them in our daycare center so they can be cared for while you are at work),” Nieto added.

The mother agreed to the arrangement and expressed gratitude for the opportunity.

The mayor said he hopes to see the mother and child again in the future when the child is older, and to see the results of the assistance provided by the local government.

He then instructed the head of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development office to prepare a program for the upcoming budget hearing, proposing a “nursing home for babies” that would provide care for infants of working parents.

“Yung iiwan sa atin sa umaga tapos kukunin nila after work… employ tayo ng nurses at aides… Level 0 tayo mag start ng aruga (Where they can leave the child in the morning and pick them up after work. We will hire nurses and aides, and start with basic care at Level 0),” the mayor said.