MALACAÑAN, Manila — Committed to fulfill President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (PBBM)’s directive to invest in education and human capital development, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has approved the release of ₱1 billion to fund the establishment of Child Development Centers (CDCs) in low-income local government units (LGUs) nationwide.

President Marcos Jr. had earlier expressed that “through the establishment of CDCs, Filipino children from poor families will have a strong foundation that, in turn, will strengthen the foundation of the country.”

Last week on Thursday, April 03, the president signed the joint circular for the building of CDCs with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the DBM to provide guidelines for LGUs to establish their CDCs through the Local Government Support Fund-Financial Assistance to LGUs.

Budget secretary Amenah 'Mina' Pangandaman announced that some 328 low-income LGUs will receive funding to implement early childhood care initiatives this year and of this number, 89 LGUs are in Luzon, 106 in the Visayas and 133 in Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“We believe that establishing CDCs across the country is crucial to every Filipino child’s overall well-being before they transition to school. These would effectively address existing gaps in the country’s early childhood care system and will serve as resource hubs for early learning programs, family support services and research on child development,” Pangandaman noted.