SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique — The provincial government is optimistic that it will have a better year as it stressed that it is now safer and the quality of life is better for children with various interventions during the past year.

Vice Governor Edgar Denosta said one of the remarkable developments in the province benefited 222,688 children aged one to 17, as the quality of education — especially for children zero to four-and-a-half-years-old improved.

This, as 714 child development workers got equipped with skills in terms of session planning and knowledge about the framework of the Early Childhood Care and Development curriculum.

All CDWs of 668 child development centers in Antique are capacitated and ready for recognition by the ECCD council next year.

"The CDWs are now ready for accreditation after they had undergone training by the ECCD Council to improve their standard of service among children," said Social Welfare and Development Officer II Carla Jee-Ann Cabigunda.

Currently, CDCs in the province cater to 21,437 learners and at least 100 children are beneficiaries of the Strategic Helpdesks for Information, Education and Livelihood and other Developmental Interventions program against child labor.

Meantime, the Antique Provincial Police Office revitalized the "Oplan Bambino," where children learned of the "good touch and bad touch" to protect themselves from anyone taking advantage of their being minors.

In 2023, the APPO conducted 145 lectures, reaching out to 2,504 pupils from 103 selected elementary schools in the province.

In terms of securing them from the drug menace, the APPO has worked for the declaration of 588 barangays as drug-cleared barangays and left with two yet to get the certification.

The Antique Integrated Provincial Health Office said the health and well-being of the children in the province improved with various programs such as dietary supplementation, salt-iodization program, and mandatory food fortification.

The result of the annual IPHO-Provincial Nutrition Council Operation Timbang for zero-23 months children this year showed 18,366 or 94.16 percent have normal weight; 289, or 1.48 percent, overweight; 674, or 3.46 percent as underweight; and 177 or 0.91 percent are severely underweight.

"Operation Timbang," aimed at monitoring the nutrition status of children, showed that in 2022, of the 17,650 children zero-23 months old had normal weight, 306 or 1.64 percent were overweight, 587 or 3.14 percent were underweight, and 126 or 0.67 percent were severely underweight.

"The nutritional status of children continues to improve in Antique because of the programs implemented," said PNC focal person Josephine Morano.