AboitizPower Toledo bolsters Cebu daycare center

Our society needs more safe and conducive spaces for children's learning and social interaction — places like daycare centers. Daycare centers are unique spaces as they help kids learn more and improve their social skills in a setting outside of home and school.

This is what the children of Therma Visayas Inc. impact communities will now experience with the turnover of a newly refurbished one-story Daycare Center Facility in Toledo City, Cebu, a project of AboitizPower subsidiary TVI and the Aboitiz Foundation.

Representatives from TVI joined Cabitoonan Barangay Chairman Jerry Lazarte in a short yet festive turnover ceremony held on 16 November. The event also marked a milestone for Barangay Cabitoonan because it is the first time for the community to have a daycare center that's truly conducive to learning.

"Education has always been something that we consider transformative. We at TVI recognize the importance of daycares in teaching children prerequisite skills before they enter formal learning institutions. To us, it's important that we can start things right," TVI's facility head, Noel Q. Cabahug, said.

Lazarte expressed his gratitude for the daycare center, which he said is expected to benefit the community's young children for many years.

"Genuine community power made this Daycare Center possible," said Lazarte. "We are thankful for our long partnership with AboitizPower and TVI in uplifting the quality of life for our barangay through various projects."

The bright yellow facility is expected to cater to close to a hundred students daily, divided into morning and afternoon shifts.  

It takes a village: Daycare for the generations.

Daycare teacher Mylyn Nacario Macapobre considers the new facility one of her "greatest blessings."

"This year brought me one of the greatest blessings I've received through AboitizPower Therma Visayas," Macapobre said. "This new daycare center is the best facility I've ever taught in throughout my 31 years as a daycare teacher."

Macapobre was 19 when she first started teaching in daycare. Back then, she and her parents pooled their resources to build a small hut for the daycare. Over time, however, more children enrolled and needed to grow the space. The children she once taught have grown up to become professionals, and now, she is teaching their children.

Studies have shown that good-quality daycare can positively impact a child's socioemotional and behavioral development, school achievement, and long-term outcomes, such as increased employment.

National legislation supports early childhood care and development, but many daycare centers nationwide need more resources and facilities, especially in low-income municipalities. In 2004, the Department of Social Welfare and Development set standards for daycare centers to ensure children receive high-quality care and develop their full potential.

"It is our goal to help our communities thrive, and one way to do that is to help provide for the needs of children so that they can grow up to become healthy, well-adjusted, and productive individuals who can positively contribute to society," TVI's Cabahug added.

A good daycare facility can serve as a second home for many children in Barangay Cabitoonan and strengthen community spirit. Early exposure to social settings allows children to hone diverse cognitive and social abilities, ranging from self-expression, conflict resolution, problem-solving, and collaboration. TVI hopes the refurbished daycare facility can adequately cater to the needs of these young children.

The Barangay Cabitoonan Daycare Center is only one of the many projects of the Aboitiz Foundation aiming to "co-create safe, empowered, and sustainable communities." AFI partners with Aboitiz business units such as TVI through scalable initiatives that have long-term benefits and are aligned with the group's core competencies.