Probe kids’ involvement in Carbon commotion – Cebu City Council

The Cebu City Council is seeking an investigation on the involvement of children in the clashes that happened at the Carbon Market on March 11, 2022.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Council is seeking an investigation on the involvement of children in the Carbon Market commotion on March 11, 2022.

The commotion occurred when Bagsakan vendors at Unit II resisted the installation of yellow railings in front of their stalls, blocking them from access to customers.

The incident was repeated on Monday, March 21, 2022, still due to the same yellow railing installation.

Mayor Michael Rama and the Market Authority have already negotiated with the vendors on May 22, 2021, for the installation of the yellow railings, to which the vendors agreed.

The vendors will allow the peaceful installation of the railings as long as they will be installed one meter away from the stalls, providing a wide enough space for the customers to access their stalls.

This should have put an end to the issue.

However, the City Council revived the incidents with Councilor Nestor Archival lamenting in a privilege speech how women were allegedly exerted force by market personnel.

He said this “cruelty” could have been prevented if the administration talked with the vendors on the Carbon Modernization program phasing, which remains to be a highly disputed project in the market.

He said that incidents such as clashes must be prevented because women should feel protected in their workplace such as the Carbon Market.

Councilor Joel Garganera, on the other hand, pointed out a much gruesome angle to the issue.

He showed a video of a group of more than ten children rioting in front of the Bagsakan when the incident happened on March 11, 2022.

Garganera said the children could not have acted on their own and were obviously instigated to join the chaos.

In previous reports of CDN Digital, the Market Authority complained that vendors used as human shields the women and children so that the personnel would retreat for fear of exerting too much force.

The Carbonhanong Alyansa, the opposition group of the modernization project, said that it was not a deliberate act, but only a natural reaction of women vendors and their children towards the action of the market personnel.

Garganera believes that the children were deliberately used in the chaos putting their lives in danger.

This could be an incident of child abuse, he said.

“It’s very clear in the Rights of the Child: every Child has the right to be protected from danger,” said the Councilor.

This includes all hazards that could affect the child’s physical, mental and emotional states.

The state has a responsibility of removing them from such dangerous situations, preventing them from getting into accidents, or protecting them from the abuse of the adults

“I strongly condemn the use of children in situations like this, it has to STOP! Spare our CHILDREN!” said Garganera in a statement.

The City Council has agreed to forward the video to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for investigation.

The video will also be sent to the Cebu City Police Office Women and Children’s Desk for analysis and probe.

Garganera said that children must never be used as tools to advance agenda especially when it can potentially harm them such as the Carbon Market clash.

He hopes the agencies will find the truth of the matter and file appropriate charges, if any, to the instigators who placed the safety of the children at risk.      /rcg

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