AFTER RESCUE, WHAT NEXT?
Children knock on windows and peer into passing cars to beg for coins from motorists on General Maxilom Avenue, a familiar sight. Some go farther to dull their hunger pangs by sniffing Rugby. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
Shanties used as hiding places for street children sniffing rugby under two bridges in Cebu City were dismantled yesterday.
“The structures in Mabolo were demolished. Next to go is the one in Banilad,”” said Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella, who led Friday’s rescue operation of 45 street children with social workers and police.
The minors were washed, clothed, and fed by city government staff, then released hours later to their guardians or family elders.
Labella said authorities could not hold the children longer as the office of the City Environment and Sanitation Enforcement Team (CESET) was not a detention center.
After rounding up 45 children loitering at night on the streets, what will the Cebu city government do?
The “catch and release” approach is a frustrating cycle without a well-coordinated program and a network of experienced child welfare advocates who know how to deal with juvenile delinquents.
ONE FACILITY
Friday’s rescue operation also underscored the need for a central facility with full services to assist children in conflict with the law, who are too young to be placed in jail.
The Cebu city government is set to resume construction of a center in barangay Labangon to house women and street kids in the city, said Dr. Ester Concha, chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS).
She said the project was stalled for a while because the building design was revised.
“From a two-storey building, it will be upgraded to five floors and will operate 24 hours,” she said.
A P10 million budget is available from the city government with P2 million from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Cebu City, as the second largest urban center in the country, also has the second biggest population of street children.
At present, the city has three centers, including the Parian Drop-In Center , on Sikatuna Street which is a temporary shelter not intended for long stays.
The center is the base of the Children of Cebu Foundation set up in 1991 by Margot Osmeña as wife of then mayor Tomas Osmeña.
The other day, Councilor Osmeña said collaboration is needed with the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children, which was formed in 1988 as an alliance of almost 30 non-government organizations and government entities devoted to the protection and welfare of these children.
“There is already a protocol when you deal with minors and when you rescue them. These NGOs have experts,” she said, emphasizing that actions “should always be in coordination with one another.”
Concha said some of the rescued children chose to stay in the temporary shelter provided.
Most of the girls or 13 of them expressed a desire a “diversion program” by social workers while two boys want to join the Community Scouts Youth Guidance Center in barangay Duljo Family.
Several kids wanted to go back to school.
“Actually more than half of the 30 boys came from the Community Scouts They would come in and out. Some of them join our sports program. But we will give first priority to the girls to undergo the program because they show willingness to cooperate,” she said.
The DSWS will provide counseling and monitor if the youths go back to school, and what kind of assistance can be given the parents or guardians.
CONSOLACION
Vice Gov. Agnes Mappale said Friday’s rescue calls for the fast-tracking of the expansion of a facility for youths in conflict with the law in Consolacion town, north Cebu.
The My Home Center for CICLs can only accommodate 30 teenage boys.
“We have a plan to build another two-storey building in a lot donated by (Provincial Board Member Grecilda) Gigi (Sanchez),” said Magpale.
Last month, the three children of the late Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. decided to donate a 500-square-meter lot adjacent to the 1,000-sq. m. lot the center stands on.
A design is ready for the expansion, said Magpale
Of the 45 minors and young adults rounded up last Friday under the Banilad and Mabolo Bridges, 36 are from Cebu City.
The rest came from Mandaue City, Consolacion, and other towns in the province.
For lack of a facility or space for CICLs, the Cebu provincial govenrment usually taps NGOs to take in children in their jurisdiction.
“We just give them a monthly consideration,” said Magpale.
“We are willing to cooperate with Cebu City in the same manner that we have accommodated some children from the city in My Home,” she said.
Since the center was constructed by Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) in 2011, the city
government owes the center P500,000 in past dues for the upkeep of minors placed in their care.
Magpale said she already reminded Mayor Rama about this obligation in December last year.
“Amo na pod siguro paninglan balik,” she said.
The provincial government has operated and managed the facility since December 2014 and set aside P6.8 million for this year’s operations.
Aside from My Home, a crisis center for women and children is being built in sitio Sudlon, barangay Lahug, Cebu City.
The center was originally meant for women and children who are victims of violence and abuse, but Magpale said they are contemplating housing youth offenders there as well.
The P20-million project, with a counterpart of P10 million from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), was halted after a homeowner living nearby refused to relocate. Negotiations to clear the area continue.
Once completed, the center will have a 40-bed occupancy.