Cebu City tour for Lumad children part of stress debriefing – PNP chief

Fort San Pedro is one of the tourist spots in Cebu City that the Lumad children and their parents have visited during their city tour this afternoon, February 19, as part of their stress debriefing. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The “rescued” Lumad children and their parents were given a tour of tourist spots in Cebu City as part of their stress debriefing today, February 19.

Police General Debold Sinas, Philippine National Police (PNP) director, mentioned the tour during his meeting earlier in the day with the rescued children and their parents at the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas headquarters in Cebu City.

Sinas said seeing beautiful places might lessen the stress that these minors including their parents had right now.

“Mamaya, part of their stress debriefing, is ipasyal sila dito sa mga spots ng Cebu City. At least, para they will also see, kasi nandito na sila, Sinas said.

(Tour them to the spots in Cebu City later as part of their stress debriefing. At least, so that they will also see, now that they are here.)

“Instead na nasa loob lang sila ng isang establishment, ngayon po ay ipapasyal po natin sila with the consent from DSWD para makita nila ang magagandang lugar ng Cebu, so they’ll get relieved at mabawasan yung stress nila,” he said.

(Instead of them just being inside one establishment, we will tour them with the consent of the DSWD so that they can see the beautiful places of Cebu, so they’ll get relieved of some of the stress that they are feeling.)

Sinas also said that staying inside one establishment for nearly two years without visiting the spots in Cebu would make one a stranger to Cebu.

So the PNP and the DSWD agreed to tour the Lumad minors and their parents.

The PRO-7 confirmed that the Lumad minors were already given a tour of the city.

Among the places in Cebu City that the Lumad minors and their parents visited in the tour these afternoon were the Basilica del Sto. Nino, Magellan’s Cross, Fort San Pedro, and Museo Sugbo.

Read: Charges filed against 7 arrested in Lumad ‘rescue’ ops

Filing of cases

Meanwhile, Sinas also said that the seven arrested persons during the rescue operation in a university in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City, would be detained here in Cebu City.

Sinas during the press briefing today said that they would stay here in Cebu unless the court would order their transfer to Davao.

He also said that they were still investigating about the possible liabilities of the school where the Lumad children stayed and where the “rescue operation” was conducted.

Sinas said they were coordinating with the Department of Education on this issue.

Read: CHR-7 begins investigation on Lumads ‘rescue’ operation

Aside from that, Sinas also encouraged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to file cases in court if the commission believed that there was no evidence about tagging these minors to be indoctrinated by the communists or were not coerced to be here.

He said that they could file cases in court against the police and they [police] would answer them [CHR complaints].

Read: CLB: Lumad children were ‘seized’ not ‘rescued,’ best interest for children ignored

Sinas also challenged those groups, who claimed that there was no rescue operation that happened and that there were violations committed during the operation, to submit their complaints in the proper forum and we [the police] would answer them. /dbs