The teenage girl embroiled in a string of controversies in Cebu, is more eager to go home to southern Leyte after spending Christmas and New Year in a center for youth offenders in the past three weeks.
J, the 16-year-old mestiza, whose arrest was followed closely by Netizens, spent the holidays in an undisclosed shelter in Metro Cebu to undergo psychological intervention.
Rose Jao, Cebu Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) assistant officer-in-charge, said she and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale had their last contact with the minor on Dec. 29.
“She´s still the same, still wanting to leave the shelter and finally go home,” Jao told Cebu Daily News.
Last Dec. 24, Jao also visited J together with the minor´s elder sister.
According to Jao, J celebrated Christmas ¨the way a shelter should celebrate.¨
“Their actions were limited, of course. You know how disciplined shelters are. She celebrated Christmas with the other female child offenders,” said Jao.
The girl, who hails from the town of Sogod, Southern Leyte, was first arrested in Asturias town then turned over to the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 last month.
According to Jao, the office already secured a copy of the girl’s birth certificate from the National Statistics Office (NSO) upon the request of the shelter.
Jao said that the Provincial Council on the Welfare of Children (PCWC), co-chaired by Magpale, remains in contact with the girl’s family.
She said that J will have to stay in the shelter until all psychological interventions are completed, legal matters are ironed out, and her family decides to claim her.
She said that a group of psychologists is working closely with the minor.
“I hope everything gets resolved by next week,” said Jao.
J made the headlines last December when she failed to pay P15,000 of resort bills in Asturias, Cebu, and P2,000 worth of services in a salon in Cebu City.
This led to the filing of two estafa charges against her.
The girl also figured in a shoplifting incident in a mall in Mandaue City earlier last year, which earned her the online tag “the most beautiful shoplifter in Cebu.”
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
