It’s been three months since 11-year-old street child Chastity Mirabiles died as a result of “blunt force trauma injuries” supposedly inflicted by Fuente police during their roundup on Easter Sunday.
Thanks to sleuthing by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7, we now have the names of two suspects, PO2 Raymonito Mesa and PO2 Manuel Luis Sejano as well as Chief Insp. Wildemar Tiu, former Fuente police chief to add to the case.
It may be a relief to the Mirabiles family but Chastity’s mother may soon face charges of parental neglect to be filed by the City Social Welfare Services Office. As with every other case, Chastity’s death isn’t expected to be resolved quickly.
The charges of murder and grave misconduct filed against Mesa and Sejano as well as the charge of obstruction of justice and grave misconduct for allegedly ordering a witness to lie to the NBI doesn’t help the reputation of the Cebu City police, who will soon find themselves busy handling street children in the runup to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Cebu.
Or so Librado Macaraya, director of the Cebu City Parks and Playground Commission said as he voiced concern over the rising number of street children and other vagrants in Plaza Independencia and other landmarks who would steal food and personal items from tourists.
He’s not the only one complaining. Some owners of commercial establishments along Fuente Osmeña claimed that pickpocketing and robbery cases involving minors increased when Tiu left for a US vacation.
Their claims should be verified with police records first.
Cebu City has the country’s second biggest population of street children, some of whom beg or steal when the opportunity presents itself.
They don’t choose to be there.
They are evidence of the failure of families and society itself to nurture and guide children who have less in life.
The use of violence on minor offenders cannot be justified by any police action or any record of criminal activity in a locality.
The easy way is to punish and blame the juvenile delinquents. That’s the distrubing reality that emerged with Chastity’s case, which was not an isolated complaint. She was not the only one rounded up and abused.
A day after her arrest, three other minor girls were placed in the Fuente Osmena police jail for the grand crime of caroling in a jeepney.
Their account of being shoved in a cell of male detainees and having their heads forcibly shaved is still undergoing a police inquiry. Justice for Chastity should mean an end to police brutality of street children.
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