The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has inked an agreement with the Provincial Government of Cebu for the use of one of its facilities as the first Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY) for Girls.

“In the coming budget year, we’ll see to it that are already there so that it is put to good use. That the usufruct that you have given won’t just end up in a piece of paper without being executed,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian assured Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia during the Deed of Usufruct signing ceremony on Wednesday (July 3), which coincided with the Walang Gutom 2027 Information Caravan in the province.

The Deed of Usufruct authorizes the DSWD to utilize and convert the Bahay Pag-Asa building located in Barangay Inayagan, Naga City into an RRCY for Girls until 2034.

The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC), an attached agency of the DSWD, assisted the Cebu provincial government in the construction of the building as a residential facility for children in conflict with the law (CICL).

The first RRCY for Girls in the Philippines is a two-story building on a 2,000 square meters of land. It aims to provide tailored rehabilitation services to meet the unique needs of female CICL, facilitating their reintegration into society and reducing re-offending rates.

The center can accommodate 50 children from Cebu province at any given time.

Among the facility’s amenities are an admission room, several staff rooms and offices, a clinic, a kitchen and mess hall, persons with disabilities-inclusive bedroom and bathroom, bedrooms, prayer room, isolation room, and an Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Center room.

Witnessing the usufruct signing were JJWC Executive Director, Atty. Tricia Clare A. Oco; DSWD Field Office 7 (Central Visayas) Regional Director Shalaine Marie Lucero; Cebu Vice Governor Hilario Davide III; and Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer-in-Charge Mary Rose Vincoy. #