SENATOR Juan Edgardo Angara called on the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to continue funding the National Child Development Centers, which he said is important in preparing young children for their entry into school.

The establishment of the NCDCs is one of the main provisions of Republic Act 10410 or the Early Years Act of 2013, which created the Early Childhood Care and Development Council or ECCDC.

“The objective of this law is to prepare very young children for their entry into school. Through the NCDCs, we have improved the health and nutrition of these children and reduced the rate of dropouts in school,” Angara said.

Apart from the regular appropriations provided under the national budget, the ECCDC also receives P500 million per year from PAGCOR for the establishment of the NCDCs.

“We still have ways to go in converting the day care centers to NCDCs and establishing more of these facilities for our children in all parts of the country. Sadly, the mandatory contributions of PAGCOR to this program ended in 2018. PAGCOR has played a huge role in the implementation of the Early Years Act and we would like to see the continuation of its contributions to the development of our children,” Angara said.

To continue PAGCOR’s support for the program, Angara filed Senate Bill 1754 that seeks to amend RA 10410.

Under the bill, PAGCOR will be tasked to contribute P1 billion per year for another five years to the ECCDC to fund the establishment of new NCDCs and for the conversion of the existing day care centers and child development centers of the different local government units.

Under the 2023 General Appropriations Act, P232.38 million was allocated for the establishment of NCDCs.

This was higher by almost P173 million than the proposed budget submitted by Malacañang under the National Expenditure Program.