World Street Children News :: Philippines Streetkid News

‘Adopt a minor offender’
By Chris Ligan
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 03:09pm (Mla time) 08/06/2007

Cebu City, Philippines - Make Cebu City a child friendly community. Give reformed youth offenders a chance. Welcome them to your homes.

This was the appeal of Cebu City first lady Margot Osmeña, chairperson of the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children, as she urged the public to welcome to their respective communities minor offenders after they are released from jail.

Margot said Cebuanos could emulate the program spearheaded by Lydia Jaca, wife of Inayawan barangay (village) Captain Warlito Jaca, who was able to convince some residents of their village to become surrogate parents to minor offenders who were from their community.

While she stressed the need for the community to help in the rehabilitation of previously jailed minor offenders, the first lady also shared the concern of the police over rising involvement of minors in crimes following the passage last year of Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.

The law, authored by Senator Francisco Pangilinan, decriminalized all offenses committed by minors below 15 years old. Offenders aged 16 to 17 don’t get arrested or charged in court if they committed the crime without discernment.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday said he intended to ask Pangilinan to amend RA 9344, as the law only made it difficult for the police to prosecute criminals.

The mayor said he would particularly bring to Pangilinan’s attention the complaint of the police regarding minors being used by criminals in their illegal activities in the city.

"When I see Kiko (Pangilinan), I will discuss with him this problem created by the law he passed," Tomas told Cebu Daily News last night.

He said he was worried that with the criminal groups using minors in their illegal activities, it would become the training ground for minors to become criminal elements in the future.

"Nahadlok ta. Mo-graduate ang minors, sila na unya ang matulisan. The intention of the law is good but the effect is bad for the minors," the mayor said.

Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale also joined in the call to amend the law as it would do more harm than good to the children.

Before the law was passed and enacted, Magpale said she called a public hearing in the province that was attended mostly by social workers from the different towns and cities in Cebu.

The social workers had raised fears that the children would be used to commit a crime once the bill would be passed into law, she added.

Magpale said the social workers told her that they were not ready to implement such a law because they lacked the resources such as a rehabilitation center.

Apparently, their fears had come true.

About 62 percent of the 600 crimes committed in Cebu City for the first half of 2007 involved juvenile delinquents. The statistics prompted police officials to call for the repeal or amendment of RA 9344.

According to Margot, the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children had learned about the practice of criminals using minors in their illegal activities. She said that they were also going to document this alarming development.

The city’s first lady agreed with the observation of Senior Superintendent Patrocinio Comendador Jr., the city’s police director, that there must be an amendment to RA 9344 as the community in general was not yet ready for a law that exonerates minor offenders from any criminal liability.

Margot said she believed that this trend was happening in other parts of the country.

Pangilinan, she added, was already aware of the problem because Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte had also complained that the minors in his city were being used by criminals.

"The intention of law is good, which is for the protection of the minor. But I’m very positive that Senator Pangilinan received complaints. I think, there has to be amendment to the law," Margot said.

One setback in dealing with minor offenders is the absence of a youth offender rehabilitation center in the city.

She said the city government has a plan to construct a rehabilitation center for minor offenders in the south district. But she said it would take about a year to implement the plan because of lack of funding.

Margot said their primary concern at this time was the transfer of 50 to 60 orphaned or abandoned children at the Community Scouts in North Reclamation Area to the Operation Second Chance, a minor offenders’ detention facility in Barangay Kalunasan.

She said the Community Scouts would have to vacate the North Reclamation Area property because the lot it occupied had already been sold by the city government to a private company.

The city government will redesign the Operation Second Chance building in order to separate the Community Scouts children from the minor offenders, she said.

"They will have a different entrance and they can’t see each other," Margot assured.

Mayor Osmeña, for his part, also assured that he would look for the funding of the construction of a rehabilitation center for minor offenders in the south district. However, he said that he would want to know all the details of the plan first.

While she agreed that RA 9344 should be amended, Margot said that minors who had served jail time for their offenses also deserved a second chance.

In the absence of rehabilitation center, some residents could become surrogate parents to minor offenders to help them become better persons.

Margot cited a program in Barangay Inayawan where at least 10 minor offenders had already been temporarily adopted by residents of the barangay.

Volunteer surrogate parents did not only provide the personal needs of the erstwhile minor offenders but also cared for them as if they were their own children, she said.

Margot said the program was started only a month ago with the help of some social workers in Barangay Inayawan.

The mayor’s wife believed that the parents of minor offenders would not object to the temporary adoption of their children, at least until they had been rehabilitated and were ready to rejoin the community.

"I think the parents of these minor offenders don’t really care their child will be adopted…they are more grateful (that) somebody will take care of their children," she said.

By volunteering as surrogate parents to minor offenders, Cebuanos can become good examples and show that Cebu can be a child friendly community, she said.

"I hope others will do it. I think, it can be done," Margot said.

CSWDO rounds up mendicants, psychos in Zambo streets

Sunday, August 05 2007 @ 11:53 AM BST

Social

The local government pursues its rescue in intersections and major streets downtown in a bid to rid the streets of mendicants and street children.

City Social Welfare and Development Officer (CSWDO) Francisco Barredo, whose office is in charge of undertaking the operations, said the campaign is to eventually send the mendicants and street children home and train them to be productive and useful citizens in the future. Also included in the rescue operation, which started early last week, are the psychotics who lurk the streets.

Most of them reportedly don’t have families here since they are not from this city. Barredo said the effort is a continuing program of the local government aimed to clear the streets of beggars and street kids, rugby boys and psychotic vagrants as well as to look into possible assistance to make them self reliant and productive.

The psychotics rounded up by the CSWDO team are being referred to the ward 9 of the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) where they can be provided with appropriate medical services and attention.

Barredo said the elderly mendicants are referred to the Home for the Elderly in Talon-talon while the others are endorsed to the chairman of the village or barangay where they originated from.

Barredo said it is expected that the mendicants will be provided with possible assistance in terms of livelihood trainings while in the custody of the barangay chairman.

At least 42 mendicants, psychotic vagrants and street kids were rescued by the CSWDO team in coordination with the police, the traffic aides, City Administrator’s office and representatives from other agencies since last week.

Barredo said the rescue operation will be a regular activity of his office with the support of other agencies.

The traffic aides have also been tasked to discourage beggars and street urchins from the city streets. (PNA)

 

25 - Iloilo street children receive additional housing …

Monday, June 25 2007 @ 03:36 PM BST Social 25 - Iloilo street children receive additional housing units from Gawad Kalinga The local government unit here has turned over 20 housing units for street children and their families in the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Village in Barangay So-oc, Arevalo district here. In support of the vision of having a child-friendly city, the city government had embarked in the project together with the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) company and Smart Telecommunications. To date, a total of 36 housing units have been built within the GK Village. Turnover for the first 16 units was done in November last year. Livelihood programs have likewise been put in place, such as dress making and terracota pottery for the women and youth. Also set to begin this year is a pre-school project. The school supplies and books gathered from a donation drive initiated by employees of PLDT and Smart here will be used for the pre-school program at GK So-oc to be launched within the year. The GK Village in Iloilo is the sixth that the PLDT group has adopted nationwide. It serves the specific purpose of providing street children and their families with permanent homes. Beneficiaries were identified by GK in cooperation with the Iloilo City Task Force on Street Children (ICTFSC). (PNA)

FUTURE FIRST: Investing in (street)children

By MA. GLAIZA LEE

You see them begging on the streets or rapping on car windows for alms. Their clothes are dirty and smelly because they rummage trash bins for food scraps. Some huddle in street corners, sniffing rugby. Children sell cigarettes or sampaguita leis while others resort to stealing, prostitution, and other petty crimes.

According to the 1998 report, entitled "Situation of the Youth in the Philippines," there are about 1.5 milllion street children in the Philippines, and 75,000 of them are found in Metro Manila alone.

"The exact number of street children in the world is impossible to quantify. But just looking at the accessible statistics can paint a grim picture," said Mark Watkinson, HSBC Philippines CEO.

Teresa Au, HSBC corporate responsibility and sustainability for Asia-Pacific head, shares the same sentiment.

She states: "The future of any country depends on its children and how well we can protect the most marginalized ones and allow them to achieve their full potential."

Ergo, HSBC Global Education Trust launched Future First, a five-year global initiative program that provides US million funds to local charitable organizations which attend to street children, children in care and orphans in countries where HSBC operates.

HSBC has over 9,800 offices in 77 countries.

"Street children are denied many of life’s basic needs. They depend on their own ability to fend for themselves. I think that to ignore them means admitting we have failed in our responsibility to protect them and provide a decent future for them," said Ms. Au.

HSBC tapped SOS Children’s Village, the world’s largest charity for orphans, and other organizations to intervene in the lives of these undeprivileged children.

The program aims to provide education, healthcare, counseling and shelter through the different organizations whose proposals will be approved by HSBC Global Education Trust board of trustees.

Local organizations are encouraged to submit their proposals for the Future First program.

"We hope the local charities and NGOs take this opportunity to implement projects that make a meaningful difference in the lives of these children. We at HSBC are eager to work with them to achieve this shared vision," said Mark Watkinson.

Project proposals will be identified globally through an annual bidding process conducted by HSBC country coordinators.

"These proposals will be reviewed by the secretariat in Mumbai (in India) for deliberation by trustees of the HSBC Global Education Trust in the United Kingdom," Watkinson explained.

Each project will be assessed based on the number of children who have been pulled off the street and placed into meaningful programs.

"We don’t know how many proposals we are going to approve. NGOs and local organizations can submit as many good proposals as they want. We want this program to be widespread and well-rounded," shared Ms. Au.

She continued: "We are adopting this cause throughout the globe. We don’t limit ourselves to territorial boundaries, to certain areas. Within Asia, where we can find the largest population of street children, the relevance of a project like Future First cannot be greater."

HSBC focuses on environment and on education for the underprivileged children.

"Although we consider other causes, HSBC believes that education should be the priority because it helps in the development and prosperity of every country. It is instrument of economic growth as well as personal success," said Mark.

In the last several years, HSBC has been advocating educational programs such as "Pagmamahal sa Pagbabasa," a project that encourages parents to teach their children how to read, and the multi-media HSBC READiscovery Centers to promote literacy.

"We can provide for their basic needs such as shelter, food, parental care, etc. But that wouldn’t last long. To make them better citizens of the country, we need to give them something substantial. The best gift to an underprvileged child is a future. Education is one of the keys," said Teresa Au.

Deadline for submission of proposals is on July 31.

Mean Streets

Does the mindset that dominates 80 or more family political dynasties also cause the big yawn that handcuffs street children to life sentences of grueling penury?

“People are so familiar with the omnipresence of (batang kalye)_ they’re rendered invisible within the chaotic picture of daily city routine.” writes Judith Pomm of Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. “Indifference appears the most common reaction.”

Her study is titled : “At The Margins: Street and Working Children in Cebu City.” But it’s implications ripple out to other Philippine cities where the problem “emerged in the economic recession of the 1980s.” The Marcos kleptocracy, by then, had bankrupted the country. The problem, however, persists up to today. Yet, other equally poor countries, like Chile , Paraguay , Cuba or Tanzania, have lower numbers of street “Mga anghel na walang langit” ( ‘Angels without a heaven’ ) is how a soap opera dubbed this issue. In Colombia, they call it ‘gamines’. Prickly scientists use the ponderous phrase: Children In Special Need of Protection.”

But no term has been “successfully coined to capture” this silent slow motion emergency, silent because nobody is surprised and cries out”, she notes. But the kids’ resilience and coping mechanisms do not outweigh vulnerability “Some children prove strong enough to find their way out, sometimes through institutional help. The majority do not.”

Firm figures on this mobile population are hard to pin down. Kids spend intermittent periods with their families. Some abscond from institutions. Others drift from one street to another, even to other provinces. Family crises, jobs, threats of police arrest or from rival gangs drive their meanderings.

The first surveys of 1988 “suggested the number of street children could range from two to three percent of the child and youth population of a city.” Metro Cebu had an estimated 15,200. “Flows” rather than “stock” would be a more relevant indicator.

The street offers skimpy income for the family’s short rations.. It’s the only alternative to a desolate crowded home, abuse or violence. They “leave home” to escape from their families and ply sidewalks, hang around malls, begging, selling cigarettes, “sometimes even their little bodies”. Less visible, street girls “are clearly an understudied reality. And they’re particularly stigmatized as they are perceived to be prostitutes”.

They craft survival strategies to meet daily needs, interviews reveal. They appropriate niches where they cadge a few pesos, feel safe and find enjoyment. “They create alternative communities which substitute for families they can not rely on,” the study notes. Their pride is “a defiant one born out of the lack of choice.” And all disappear from welfare agendas when they are not children anymore.

There’s no shortage of publications, laws and programs, resulting in a not always coherent matrix . Patchy data zaps assessment of institutional intervention and successes. An unofficial estimate pegs quality and implementation at a skimpy 20% to 40%.

Official programs respond to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. “Unfortunately, it has the weakest base in Practice. Law enforcement here is often a matter of contacts and money and thus the privilege of a minority.”

Reactive and protective approaches for programs, transport elements of the Catholic value system that dominates Filipino society. The quasi-nomadic life style of _bata sa kadalanan_ is “continuously measured against ubiquitous Catholic and domestic family ideals.” the study points out. “( But these ) ideals have little to do with the real life situation of poor families whose children roam the streets.”

Under these values, family is secure, a place of love and care. It excludes the_kalye_ as sites of danger, dirt and failed families. Structural injustices are ignored. Discourse is whittled down to either “normal children in homes or deviant children on the streets.” And grimy _bata sa kadalanan_ are stereotyped, by the better-off, as living “anti-social, immoral chaotic lives.”

This branding is done by a skewed society of a few very rich families, (who moonlight as political dynasties) , a sliver-thin middle class and a mass of indigents. . “Injustice is a given. Not everybody is born with the same chances.” These cash-flush families fret about their interests, little beyond. As the Filipino anthropologist Landa Jocano once warned: “The importance of the family in understanding Philippine social organization can not be over-emphasized”.

Among the poorest, the “distinction between home and street is increasingly obsolete,” the study notes. More use the street as a collectively shared space, for working, sleeping and living. “The way people treat street children offers a critical vision of (this) society. It accepts life on the street as an alternative for those who are deprived of a wholesome childhood but which actively rejects them and aggravates their situation.”

This mindset anchors the widespread indifference to street children “Very few consider this a problem that should trouble the public,” the study found. There’s little solidarity with the extremely poor. Only three, out of 30 respondents, would help out.

“Demonizing them supports the justification that one does not have to bother with them.”

Isn’t this a scientific retelling of what was that story again? The one about a Levite and priest who sidled to the other side of the road, so they’d not bother with a fallen victim. And both of them are us?

E-mail: juanlmercado@gmail.com

Council bet to sacrifice half of salary for child-scholars

BANKEROHAN barangay chief and City Council candidate Edgar Ibuyan is offering half of his salary for the scholarship of street-children if ever he gets elected as councilor this coming May elections.

Ibuyan, who is running under the ticket of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, said he will be making a legacy at the City Council to be the first councilor to sacrifice his salary.

“We can’t deny the fact that there are really a lot of street-children in various areas here in the city and they need the proper care and attention. This is my priority — where I’ll send them to school for free,” Ibuyan said in a statement.

In his barangay, Ibuyan has a scholarship program where more than 100 elementary and close to 200 high school students benefited.

He admitted though that the scholarship he is planning, if he becomes councilor, will be at a very limited basis and depending on the availability of funds.

“We will start first in elementary then high school since our salary is not that big to get college scholars,” Ibuyan said.

He assured though that, if elected, he will sponsor an ordinance where the City Government would allocate funds for scholarship program to poor yet deserving students living here in the city.

Ibuyan’s concern for the poor and abandoned children is one of the reasons why Mayor Duterte urged Ibuyan to run for councilor of the 1st district.

It was learned that Ibuyan’s residence has become some sort of an orphanage since he is taking care to some 30 street-children who were rescued from the streets two months ago. Aside from providing food, shelter and clothing, Ibuyan also sees to it that the street urchins were taught with moral values for their transformation.

“I really don’t want them to be another victim of salvaging. I want them to realize that they still have a bright future ahead of them,” Ibuyan said.

Home for homeless kids in GenSan opens

Written by Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews

Thursday, 29 March 2007 00 58 12

GENERAL SANTOS CITY  (MindaNews/28 March) —  Homeless street children now have their own place in the growing metropolis following the completion of an P8.3 million drop-in and social development training facility right at the heart of the city. Rebecca Magante, City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) chief, said the city government opened the new two-storey Social Development Center on Monday  to provide temporary shelter for street children and those who are in need of special interventions. The construction of the facility, which is located beside the CSWDO compound, was jointly funded by the city government and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The AusAID assistance was part of a program implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government. Magante said the center, which will be managed by the CSWDO, will mainly serve as a processing and drop-in place for street children and other children in especially difficult circumstances. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific said "children are in especially difficult circumstances whentheir basic needs for food, shelter, education, medical care, or protection and security are not met." She said it will also be utilized as a venue for training and assemblies for social development workers and other social service clientele and sectors. The Department of Social Welfare and Development noted that children under such condition are those who were abandoned, neglected, sexually abused, victims of acts of lasciviousness, sexually exploited, victims of pornography, physically abused, youth offenders, child laborers and victims of armed conflicts. The city government earlier raised alarm over the growing number of street children, also called "batang tun-og," who were allegedly involved in street crimes and prostitution activities. The local police and social workers have been conducting regular rounds in various parts of the city to monitor these activities. Magante said the city government has assigned highly-trained social workers and counselors to lead the operations of the facility. "We will offer counseling sessions and other related interventions to those who may need them at the center," she said. Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. said the establishment of the center is part of the city government’s investments for the "future of our children." "This is in line with our vision to build a peaceful community through the teaching of proper values to our children," he said. Acharon committed to provide additional resources to further improve the facility and the city’s various social development initiatives, especially those that cater to the welfare of the children.(Allen V. Estabillo/MIndaNews)

Street children get assistance
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday distributed cash assistance amounting to P28,500 to 57 street children from the different barangays in Bacolod City.

The children are part of the total 110 beneficiaries identified by the Department of Social Services and Development.

DSSD head Sally Abelarde said a number of these street children engage in mendicancy and one of the programs of the Leonardia administration is to provide them education assistance of P500 each annually to augment their needs in school.

Abelarde said the city government encourages these street children to go to school. "We reach out to them through the Task Force on Anti Mendicancy headed by Bing Pahilanga," she said.

Leonardia yesterday advised the children to study hard. He also reminded them that hard work and determination are the keys to success.

Meanwhile, Leonardia also distributed medical and burial assistance amounting to P21,500 to 19 indigent families from the different barangays in the city.

The medical assistance taken from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fund was given by Leonardia to those who have family members who are in the hospital.

UNICEF helps Zambo abandoned and street children

Wednesday, January 31 2007 @ 11:21 AM GMT Social The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has donated at least P200,000 worth of goods for the abandoned and streetchildren housed at the Social Development Center in Barangay Sta. Barbara, this city. The donation was coursed through the Human Development Empowerment Services (HDES), a local non-government organization group, involved in empowering through education to the less fortunate ones. It included therapeutic materials like beddings, kitchen utensils, shoes, slippers, basketball rings, bags, raincoats, shirts, underwear and other items. The donated items were turned over by HDES to the recipients in coordination with the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) headed by Francisco Barredo. "This is a welcome development for the children staying in our center. It will help boost their morale to study hard," Barredo said. HDES Executive Director Lourdes Lim said the donation is part of the two-year assistance program of UNICEF to the Zamboanga Peninsula and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Zamboanga City was included in the two-year assistance program after HDES and the City Social Welfare and Development Office requested UNICEF to include this city among the program beneficiaries. (PNA)

Wednesday, January 10, 2007
36 street kids rounded up
By Marna H. Dagumboy

CAMP OLIVAS — At least 36 street children, mostly vendors, were apprehended in Angeles City to prevent them from being exploited by suspected pedophiles hounding the entertainment area, a police official said.

Angeles Police Chief Sonny Cunanan also said the move was part of the City Government’s anti-vagrancy campaign.

This developed as some 200 sidewalk stalls owned by Muslim traders were removed from the area, declogging the heavy volume of motorists passing along the commercial area of the city.

Cunanan said the sidewalk where the stalls were located can now be used by pedestrians.

He said the Muslims traders agreed in demolishing their stalls after realizing that their presence along the sidewalk has aggravated or contributed to the heavy flow of traffic in the area. The Muslim traders were transferred to another street adjacent to the newly constructed public market.

"We just implemented what is good for them and for the city," said Cunanan, adding that motorists and pedestrians have heaves a sigh of relief with the "new look" of the city’s downtown area.

Angeles Police Women’s and Children’s Section Chief Myrna Latorre said the rescued children were brought to the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) for disposition. She said most of the rescued children were turned over to the Bahay Bata Center, an institution taking care of orphans and abused children.

The other children, Latorre said, were brought to a government rehabilitation center in Magalang, Pampanga that is being run the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) called Haven.

She said the children, aged six to 17 years old, were roaming the Fields Avenue area as flower vendors, beggars, and scavengers. She said they called the attention of the children’s parents and educated them of the law about exploitation on children.

"Once we see these children back on the streets, we will file cases against their parents," she said.

Meanwhile, Latorre said she recommended for the closure of the Citylights Kabaret where they found minors working there as guest relations officers (GROs) during a recent raid in the place.

Cunanan said the police and the City Government are serious in cleansing the city of lawlessness so that peace and order and more tourists and investors would come in Angeles.