The Cebu City government is willing to take over the operation of Operation Second Chance (OSC) if the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) goes on with its plan to pull out its personnel due to budget constraints.
“We will sit down with BJMP on that. If it’s not a good, we will improve it. If we cant work something out, the city will take care of it,” said Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama
The center houses about 200 youth offenders who by law cannot by detained in jail.
The BJMP earlier wrote Rama that they will be pulling out all of their personnel due to financial constraints.
Aside from providing security in the facility, the BJMP also pays for meals of the minors at P50 per meal.
Councilor Margot Osmeña, who was instrumental in having the center built as part of her advocacy for street children, the BJMP’s move was expected.
“It’s not a surprise. It was just a matter of when. Years ago, they already expressed so. They just kept postponing it so we have to prepare ourselves. It’s really part of the social welfare role of the local government,” she told reporters.
The center was built in 1998 and started operating in 2002. It provided a facility that would separate children from adult crime offenders.
A manual of operations was drafted in December 2007 to guide the city in managing the facility, she said, including costs and maintenance which amounts to P12 million a year.
But since it was budgeted six years ago, Osmeña said this budget is expected to have increased.
The budget includes the salary for security and protection staffers which include 12 guards and one supervisor.
At that time, the yearly budget for the security personnel was pegged at P48,000 for each guard and P60,000 for the security supervisor.
Cebu City was the first local government unit in the country to comply with Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 with the establishment of the youth home.
Osmeña, who said she is no longer active on the management board, said she hopes City Hall continues operating the center and start training personnel to run it.
She recalled how hard they pushed to set up the center through the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children.
The OSC, which sits on a property donated by Cebu province in barangay Kalunasan, has been home to minor offenders who have changed for the better through its programs, which Osmeña said, are “very near and dear” to her.
“One of the kids there graduated and is now an engineer through the center’s Alternative Learning System (ALS). If he didn’t go through Second Chance, he would probably still be out there committing crimes,” Osmeña said.