The guardians of a 15-year-old runaway accused of stealing P150,000 cash from a parked car in Cebu City were charged with human trafficking for accepting the boy’s loot.
Rommel and Dyna Felices Quan were charged with violating Republic Act 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.
“Initially, we prepared a case of theft in relation to Republic Act 7610 (child abuse) but we saw that they used a minor to commit the crime. With this, the couple will not be able to post bail,” said Chief Insp. David Señor, head of the Cebu City Police Station 2.
Dyna is detained while her spouse emains at large.
The boy, whom police said was a repeat offender and admitted to learning to steal at the age of 6, was taken into custody after security video showed him take a bag containing P150,000 cash from a Mitsubishi Strada along Osmeña Boulevard.
The boy is the son of barbecue vendors in barangay Pahina but has refused to go home. For the past two years, he’s been living with the Quan couple in barangay Calamba.
The car owner, Joselito Lano, 47, parked near a drug store to buy some anesthesia. He left the door unlocked since the store had two security guards.
When he returned from his brief errand, the bag with cash was missing.
Footage of a security camera showed the boy arrive in the area on a bicycle, stop near Lano’s pick-up truck and take the bag.
Police went to the couple’s house in barangay Calamba and found part of the money stuffed in a sack. Only P106,000 was recovered. Rommel fled with the rest.
The boy was turned over to Operation Second Chance. He was charged with theft after a certificate was issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWD) that he acted with discernment when he committed the crime.