BAGUIO CITY (May 23) — Three acknowledged photo-journalists recently gained additional recognition for their photos that captured images of Filipino children.

The Regional Council for the Welfare of Children- Cordillera Administrative Region (RCWC-CAR) recently recognized three of the 35 entries from CAR which made it to the top 30 finalists in the 2007 Bright Child Photo Contest.

Roland Rabang, a consultant of the Baguio Water District and a freelance journalist was recognized for his entry titled Helping Hand, while Harley Palangchao of the Baguio Midland Courier and Manila Times was recognized for his Kadang-kadang entry. David Leprozo Jr., correspondent of the Manila Standard-Today and former President of the Cordillera Tourism Press Corp (CTPC) was recognized for his two entries, My Ethnic Music and Playtime.

Forming part of the Children’s Month Celebration last year, the contest aimed to capture community scenes that reflect Filipino children enjoying their various rights, to include right to a family, survival, development, participation and protection. The contest also served as one of the strategies in the Bright Child Campaign, which projects a child provided with basic health, nutrition, psychosocial, education, and social protection services from conception to adolescence, and continues practicing positive attitudes and behavior towards becoming a healthy, responsible and self-reliant citizen.

The recognition was a highlight of the RCWC 2nd Quarter and Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Coordinators’ Meeting held last May 20 at the Department Social Welfare and Development –Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD-CAR) Conference Hall.

The meeting was an opportunity to update the inter-agency group of the RCWC undertakings which is lodged at the DSWD-CAR, and thresh-out bottle-necks in the smooth implementation of ECCD programs in the various provinces in the region . # hbzambrano/ DSWD-CAR