Mayor Nicholas Yulo and Vice Mayor Ramon Torres led the blessing and inauguration of the Halfway Home, worth P6 million, within the compound of the Bago City Police Station in Barangay Lag-asan Nov. 21.
The city government, through its Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), facilitated the establishment of the one-storey youth development center in a bid to uphold juvenile justice and secure their safety.
The facility was funded through the Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC) Fund and Development Fund.
The Halfway Home will house children in conflict with the law and children at risk while their placements to Bahay Pag-asa and other institutions are being processed, thereby securing their safety and making sure that all services afforded by the law are provided to them, the city said.
Present at the inauguration and blessing were councilors Ma. Josefa Matti, Jake Patrick Torres, Carlos Mondia, and Ma. Femmy Alvarez-Martir, Regional Juvenile Justice and Welfare Committee secretariat Anna Karla Villanueva, CSWDO head Leah Pilipina Canayon, and Bago City Police Station chief, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jay Malong.
Some judicial partners of the city, including Regional Trial Court Branch 75 Executive Judge Mary Jennifer Protasio Arches, Office of Clerk of Court Atty. Irma Casto, and Public Prosecutor Ma. Christy Uriarte also graced the event.
The blessing was officiated by Rev. Fr. Jesmar Manato, parish priest of the St. John the Baptist Church. ||