MANILA, Philippines — “Why did they do that to us when they did not even know us?” Steve Estopito said, recalling the first time years ago when authorities “rescued” him off the streets of Malate, Manila.

Estopito said he was playing with six siblings and cousins under the noon sun in front of Malate Church when police in plainclothes collared them and forcibly took them to a dingy center for street children.

“They did not even ask where our parents were. We could not do anything, and we just cried,” he said.

Estopito, who lives in Leveriza, Manila, is one of the estimated 250,000 children who play, earn a living, or live in the Philippines’ dangerous streets.

Authorities conduct periodic sweeps in an attempt to solve the problem.

But child rights advocates claim that these “rescues” are actually “arrests,” and that street children are merely used to meet the rescue teams’ “quotas” before they are released back to the streets.

Estopito said he was eventually “rescued” 12 times. A 13-year-old boy pegged the number of times he was “rescued” at an amazing 59—all to no apparent effect.

Worse, force is often used on many of the children during “rescues,” and sometimes they are sexually abused, according to a study sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

The study, produced by the nongovernment organization Bahay Tuluyan, was launched Tuesday at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City as the world marked the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Leila de Lima delivered the keynote speech.

‘Sagip’ or ‘Huli’?

Unicef country representative Vanessa Tobin described the study as “very important.”

Titled “Sagip or Huli? Rescue of Street Children in Caloocan, Manila, Pasay and Quezon City,” it read in part:

“Rescued children face a number of violations [of] their most basic rights, both as humans and as children, throughout nearly all stages of the rescue operation.

“Rescue operations as currently practiced in [the four cities] are failing to protect children from abuse and exploitation and are sometimes exposing them to these ... An independent complaints mechanism is not available or accessible to rescue children.
“Rescue operations are frequently carried out independently, indiscriminately and for reasons other than child protection. The best interests of the children are often secondary to other concerns.”

Also according to the study, rescuers are “frequently unclear about their objectives” and therefore “use inappropriate intervention techniques.”

“This unnecessarily criminalizes, stigmatizes and traumatizes children,” it said.

Varied reasons

For the study, 599 street children and 144 “rescuers” from Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan and Pasay were interviewed.

All the children were on the street at the time of the interview, indicating “no significant change in their situation,” Bahay Tuluyan official Catherine Scerri said.

Said Tobin: “Children end up in the streets for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, because they’ve been abused at home. Sometimes, parents are unable to provide for them and they need to work to survive. Sometimes, because of peer pressure.

“For those reasons, they can end up attracted to street gangs, get involved sniffing solvents, drinking alcohol, taking illegal drugs, drawn to crime, violence, sexual abuse. Often, they end up injured, exploited, abused or killed.”

Tobin said street children posed a challenge not only in the Philippines but also in other countries.

She said the actual number of street children in the Philippines was not known.

“We think it’s 250,000, with 50,000 of them highly visible. The problem is greatest within Manila,” Tobin said.

Numbers

Scerri said 48 percent of the street kids interviewed said they were dragged or forced into vehicles when they were “rescued.”

She added that:

• 24 percent said they were “grabbed” and 19 percent said they “voluntarily went along.”

• 42 percent said the authorities chased them, despite a clear policy against chases.

• 35 percent said they were hurt, 9 percent said they were helped, and another 9 percent said they were cared for.

• 15 percent “consented” to the “rescue,” 24 percent did not, 61 percent conceded that they could do nothing.

Scerri said the rescuers came from various agencies—Metro Manila Development Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development and its local counterparts, barangays, and police.

She said 94 percent of the “rescuers” did not introduce themselves to the children, and only 53 percent of the latter said their “rescuers” were in uniform.

“The children said they were beaten and their money or belongings were either taken or destroyed. Some were tricked into going with rescuers and told, ‘We’ll take you to Jollibee,’” Scerri said, adding:

“Others were sexually assaulted or inappropriately touched.”

Weapons

Only 1 percent of the children said the “rescue” was explained to them, Scerri said.

This could be because some of the rescuers carried weapons, contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, she said, adding that 60 percent carried batons; 15 percent, guns; and 18 percent, handcuffs.

“This was interesting because the majority of the rescuers said they had a policy of not using force during rescues and that they had an understanding of [the UN convention]. But this was contradicted by the presence of weapons during rescue,” Scerri said.

She said 45 percent of the “rescued” kids were taken to Jose Fabella Center in Manila, and others to the shelters of their local governments.

“Some of the children reported that as soon as they arrived, they were released. This gave the impression that the rescuers were just filling quotas,” Scerri said.

Overcrowding

The kids usually stayed in the shelters for a week. But they had to deal with overcrowding, inadequate bedding, no separate quarters, and “sleeping on the cement floor,” according to Scerri.

She said there was a general lack of clothing and sanitation.

“The children had concerns about the quality and quantity of their food. There were serious allegations of mistreatment and abuse,” she said.

“They were released when they presented their birth certificates or were identified by their parents. Some paid money. Some exchanged sexual favors.”

But after the children are released, many if not most of them return to the streets.

Scerri said 30 percent of the children interviewed said they had been rescued “more than five times.”

“Four percent said they were rescued so many times they could not remember how many...” she said.

Scerri said that in October, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed serious concern over “the high number of children who live in the streets.”

“There is a continuing lack of systematic and comprehensive strategy. And they are further concerned by the rescue operations conducted in various areas of Manila,” she said.

Detention prohibited

CHR Chair De Lima cited reports that some children in major cities had even fallen victim to death squads.

“In recent months, however, this has somewhat abated, maybe because of our public inquiry [into death squads],” she said.

The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act prohibits jailing children “15 years and below” due to criminal offenses, De Lima pointed out.

Authorities usually claim curfew violations when rounding up street kids, she noted.

“They are not supposed to be treated as children in conflict with the law. They can be arrested but they should not be detained. Because of their young age and limited knowledge, they are not supposed to be treated as criminals,” De Lima said.

“There should be intervention by the concerned authorities before the children are turned over to their parents,” she said.

But she conceded that because of lack of resources, “we have very few institutions that cater to the needs of children, particularly street children.”