Executive Director’s Message

Our goal is to have at least one Child Protection Unit or Women and Children Protection Unit in every province in the Philippines. We are very near that goal. The remaining provinces without a WCPU are mainly in Luzon and Mindanao. With the inclusion of Child Protection in the Pediatric residency training program and Women and Child Protection in the Obstetrics & Gynecology residency training program, there is also demand for training from private hospitals. We are pleased to announce that there are 3 new training centers: Baguio General Hospital in Luzon, Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital in the Visayas and Southern Philippines Medical Center in Mindanao. Our efforts will be doubled to reach all 81 provinces within the next 5 years. This is one of the major contributions of CPN to the Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence Against Children. The WCPU is a delivery system for multidisciplinary services that has a nationwide reach. It is the response system for all forms of abuse including victims of trafficking and online child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The number of women and children served by the WCPUs has increased sharply in the last 3 years. Last year, 10,444 children and 4,816 women were provided medical, psychosocial and legal services. Majority were sexual abuse cases and female victims. We know from the National Baseline Survey on Violence against Children (2015) that more boys are victims of abuse; we need to find out how we can increase the reporting and help-seeking behavior of boys.

At CPN, we value excellence. In recognition of our work in this field I was made the co-chair of the World Health Organization Guideline Development Group for the response to sexual abuse of children and adolescents and the Guideline Development Group on responding to child maltreatment. The former Guideline was launched in October 2017 and has been localized to the Philippine setting for use by the WCPUs. We have increased our research output in partnership with leading universities around the world such as University of Cambridge, Oxford University, Cape Town University, University of Edinburgh. This has resulted in better services and expansion of existing services. The WCPU delivery system is a pathway for scaling up evidence-based practices.

There is still much work to be done but we are in a good position to succeed.

Sincerely yours,

Bernadette J. Madrid, MD

The Philippine Pediatric Society Inc. awards Dr. Bernadette J. Madrid of the Child Protection Network Foundation as the 2021 MOST OUTSTANDING PEDIATRICIAN OF THE YEAR

• For being the true embodiment of a 5-star physician – a compassionate clinician, a committed educator, a passionate leader, a prolific researcher and a dedicated advocate and social mobilizer;
• For integrating child protection into the mainstream of health delivery in the Philippines;
• For being the prime mover in establishing Women and Child Protection Units in hospitals nationwide;
• For incorporating women and child protection in the undergraduate medical curriculum and specialty training in Pediatrics and Ob-Gyn;
• For expounding on the different disciplines like Medicine, Social Work, Law, Mental Health, Law Enforcement that can work together for the best interest of the child; and
• For being a model Pediatrician in ensuring the well-being of all children in our country, serving the most vulnerable in our society, championing children’s rights and ensuring that no child should live with fear.

Given this 25th day of July, in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty One, virtually awarded during the 58th PPS Annual Convention, Manila, Philippines.

1. Graduate of the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines
2. Diplomate and Fellow of the Philippine Pediatrics Society
3. First President of the Philippine Ambulatory Pediatric Association
4. International Research Fellow, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York
5. Clinical Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine
6. Elected to the ExecutiveCouncil of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (2004-2010)
7. Presently a member of several international Steering Committees:the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance and Learning in East Asia and the Pacific,a regional network of Know Violence in Childhood
8. Member of several government committees on health, social welfare, law enforcement and the judiciary
9. Professorial Lecturer II andmember ofthe Research Committee of the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court of thePhilippines
10. Serves in the Multi-Sectoral Governance Council of the Philippine National Police and the Committee for the Special Protection of Children chaired by the Department of Justice
11. Published several articles in local and international peer-reviewed journals, chapters in books and manuals, as well as researches onchild protection which have contributed to changes in policy and practice in the Philippines
12. Reviewer for Child Abuse and Neglect, the International Journal and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence
13. Convenor of the Child Abuse Neglect and Exploitation (CANE) Study Group of the National Institutes of Health of the University of the Philippines, a research group with the objective to build evidence base on what works inthe primary prevention and intervention of child abuse and neglect in the Philippines
14. Recipient of several awards for her work in Child Protection among which are Most Influential Filipina Women in the World Award: Pioneer and Founder Category (Filipina Women’s Network in Paris, France, 2019); Most Outstanding Alumni for Child Advocacy (UP Alumni Association, 2015); Most Distinguished Alumni for Service (UP Alumni Association, 2013); Outstanding Service Award for Child Protective Services (National Children’s Advocacy Center, Alabama, USA, 2012); Outstanding Woman Leaders in Manila (Soroptimist International, 2009); Most Distinguished Alumni for Health (UP Alumni Association, 2008), Top 10 Leaders in Health (2005); Most Outstanding Philippine Doctor (Philippine Junior Chamber of Commerce with DOH and WHO, 2004); The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service awardee for Medicine: Child Protection (TOWN’s, 2001); Most Outstanding Research in Health in Nutrition (Department of Science and Technology). The GAWAD Pagasa Award, a group award, was conferred by the Commission on Civil Service Commission to PGH-CPU for dedicated performance exemplifying the best in any profession or occupation