Philippine National Situation:

• Twenty-eight percent of children under age five are severely or moderately underweight according to international standards (World Summit Goals for Children, 1998).
  
• More than half of the 42,000 Barangays in the Philippines have no provisions for attending pre-schools. Only 19% of children 4 to 6 years old are privileged to go to public or private pre-schools.
  
• More than 1/3 of the more than 42,000 Barangays in the country are not privileged to attend the required six years of elementary education.
  
• 49% of infants and 26% of children from 1 to 6 years old suffer from iron- deficiency and anemia.
  
• 1.5 million Filipino children live on the streets. The Department of Social Works and Development estimates that this number annually increases by 6,365.
  
• Research show that one out of three Filipino children is abused (Manila Bulletin, 11 February 1996). During the Fall of 1999 alone, 2,393 children fell prey to rape, attempted rape, incest, and acts of lasciviousness or prostitution (The Department of Social Works and Development, First Semester, 1999).