SENATE President Sherwin Gatchalian urged local government units (LGUs) on Friday to immediately implement programs and services under the newly signed implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 12199, or the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) System Act.
Under the ECCD System Act, national government agencies, LGUs, and stakeholders are expected to work together to ensure that all young children have access to quality health, nutrition, early education and developmental services regardless of their socioeconomic background or geographic location.
“The signing of the IRR marks a significant step toward ensuring that every Filipino child has a strong foundation for lifelong learning,” said Gatchalian, the principal author and sponsor of the measure.
RA 12199 assigns local government units a central role in implementing ECCD programs and services in their respective communities. These include interventions on health, nutrition, early learning, child development, parental education and other services essential to the holistic development of young children.
Gatchalian cited data from the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, which showed that one in four Filipino children below 5 years old is stunted, a condition caused by chronic malnutrition that can impair physical growth, cognitive development and future learning capacity.
Gatchalian added that the law recognizes that investing in early childhood is among the most effective strategies to improve learning outcomes and break the cycle of poverty.
