MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Sept. 23 (PIA) --- The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) officially kicked-off the 23rd National Family Week celebration on September 22, with a parade and short program in Cotabato City.
More than 500 employees from different line agencies and offices of ARMM took part in the opening spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-ARMM).
DSWD-ARMM also awarded Sambay Salik-Suwaib as the Solo Parent Awardee this year. Suwaib received the award “in recognition for her exemplary roles as father and mother” to her three children since her husband passed away more than 20 years ago.
Four other families also received the Model Family Award from the department. The awardees received a plaque of recognition and cash rewards.
Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman, the region’s vice-governor and DSWD secretary, said in a statement that the celebration was aimed at intensifying the importance of strengthening the family as the foundation of the nation.
This year’s celebration holds the theme “Family Solidarity, Gender Equality and Children’s Rights in Contemporary Families.” This highlights equal opportunities of men and women as well as existing child rights in the Filipino family.
“The family is the very foundation of our nation. It is from where it derives strength, progress and stability,” Lucman said.
The celebration is observed annually every fourth week of September based on Proclamation No. 60 issued on September 18, 1992 “in recognition of the sanctity of family life and to protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution.”
The weeklong celebration will last until September 27. But a ‘kanduli’ or thanksgiving lunch will be held on September 25. (BPI/APB/PIA-10)
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