The Operation Second Chance facility in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City. | contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has ordered executives from the City Hall and the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to take over Operation Second Chance following another jailbreak there.
Officials confirmed that at least 30 Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) bolted the facility in Brgy. Kalunasan around 6 a.m. on Wednesday, May 3.
Officers, including those from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at the neighboring Cebu City Jail, managed to capture most of the escapees.
Those, who remained at large, were last seen running toward the direction of the Guadalupe Cave Langub Shrine, authorities said.
As a result of the latest jailbreak, Rama announced that he has tapped City Hall officials and law enforcement to take the helm of Operation Second Chance.
“It will be headed by Atty. Colin Rosell, together with (Councilor) Philip Zafra, and the PNP (Philippine National Police)…The PNP will have to come in,” he told reporters in a teleconference.
As of 11 a.m., authorities are still searching for at least three CICLs, according to Zafra, who heads the city council’s Committee on Public Order.
The council has also directed the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) to furnish them with a written report about the incident and recommendations on improving the facility, Zafra added.
“Hopefully, in that aspect, makatabang ta nga di na na mausab ang pag eskapo sa mga bata dinha,” he said in a separate phone interview.
(Hopefully, in that aspect, we can also help that the escape of the kids will not happen again there.)
Wednesday’s jailbreak is the second to hit Operation Second Chance this year. Last January, seventeen CICLs tried to escape from the facility.
Aside from jailbreaks, Zafra said the city government was also looking at reports of contraband being smuggled into Operation Second Chance.
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