To help children in conflict with the law (CICL) become productive citizens, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is putting up a PHP16.7-million temporary shelter for children while undergoing reformation activities.

BARMM’s Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) Minister Raissa Jajurie said Monday the two-story halfway house for children is located in a 2,000 square meter land donated by Mohammad Abujihad Sema in Barangay Magsaysay in Parang town, Maguindanao province.

“It will serve as a temporary place where children may stay,” Jajurie said in a statement.

The building will become the children’s home while their cases are being heard in courts, instead of being detained with other adult persons deprived of liberty.

“Once completed, it can accommodate up to about 50 CICL so that they can stay comfortably inside the center and benefit from other different interventions,” Jajurie said.

MSSD-BARMM will manage the center.

It is the ministry’s first youth and children development center to be constructed in the region and funded under the Bangsamoro Appropriation Act (BAA) 2020.

Jajurie said MSSD will also provide house parents, psychologists, and nutritionists to look after the youth and children who will stay in the center.

“While there, we will make sure that children can continue their education via ALS (alternative learning system), skills training, and recreation amid the circumstances they are in,” she said. (PNA)