Quezon city: Mayor Joy Belmonte is pushing a dual agenda of workplace wellness and community-based care systems, including plans to replicate Bogot¡'s 'care blocks' to support mothers and caregivers. Addressing city government employees on Monday, Belmonte said she is exploring the adoption of Bogot¡-style 'care blocks' in the city, aiming to ease the burden of unpaid care work on mothers and other caregivers. She stressed that care work, both paid and unpaid, plays a critical but often invisible role in sustaining society.
According to Philippines News Agency, Belmonte cited important roles nurses, health aides, and household helpers play as part of paid care work, while also highlighting unpaid care work, such as looking after children, the elderly, and sick family members, mostly silently 'assigned' to mothers and other members of the family. 'Ang mga gawaing nito, unpaid care work, walang sweldo. Hindi binibilang sa GDP, hindi kasama sa mga numero ng economic growth. Pero ang unpaid care work, essential work ito (These tasks, unpaid care work, without salary. Not counted in the gross domestic product, not included in the numbers of economic growth. But unpaid care work, this is essential work),' she added.
Like in the Philippines, Belmonte said that in Colombia's capital city, about 30 percent of women are engaged in full-time, unpaid care work for an average of 10 hours daily. She noted that this burden disproportionately affects low-income women and limits their access to education, income, and political participation, while reinforcing broader inequalities and contributing significantly to the city's and country's economic structure. In response, Belmonte said Bogot¡ developed 'care blocks'.
'Ano po ang care block? So, sa Colombia, dahil kinikilala nila na napakahirap ng buhay ng isang nanay. Nanay na naglalaba, nanay na naghahatid sa anak sa eskuwelahan, nanay na tumutulong sa bata sa kanyang pag-aaral, nanay na nag-aalaga sa mga baby. So, may care blocks sa bawat community sa (What is a care block? So, in Colombia, because they recognize that life is very difficult for a mother. Mother who does the laundry, mother who takes the child to school, mother who helps the child with their studies, mother who takes care of the babies. "So there are care blocks in every community in) Colombia,' Belmonte said.
She elaborated on the services offered by these care blocks, stating, 'So anong nangyayari? Pupunta si nanay sa care block. May laundry mat sa loob ng care block. Doon na siya maglalaba sa care block. Tapos may tutorial services. So yung anak niya na kailangan maturuan, may mga nagtuturo sa mga bata doon. Pero meron din childminding. So kung may mga sanggol, pwedeng iwanan ni nanay ang mga sanggol sa childminding sa loob ng care block. At ito yung nakakatuwa, may abogado sa care blocks (So what happens? Mothers will go to the care block. There is a laundromat inside the care block. She will do her laundry in the care block. Then there are tutorial services. So her child, who needs to be taught, there are people who teach the kids there. But there is also childminding. So if there are babies, mothers can leave the babies in childminding inside the care block. And here's the amusing part, there are lawyers in the care blocks,' she added.
The program, which started in 2021 by then Bogot¡ mayor Claudia Lopez, has now expanded to 27 care blocks. Belmonte noted that many women and mothers in Quezon City face the same reality. She said the initiative responds to demographic pressures, including a rapidly growing elderly population and declining fertility rates, which are straining traditional family-based care systems.
Belmonte noted that the city now has nearly 400,000 senior citizens. She added that the city continues to invest in complementary programs, including a childminding center for employees, free health and wellness services for its employees, merit-based hiring and promotions, and expanded training and scholarship opportunities. She noted that the city was recently recognized as a 'caring city' at the Women Deliver 2026 conference in Melbourne, where the city presented its initiatives on gender equality and care infrastructure. Despite the recognition, Belmonte said the local government continues to scale up both its workplace and community-based support systems.
