FOR the past few weeks, the television is their only window to the outside world.
When they saw their parents in a local news program, social welfare workers had to turn it off and monitor their viewing from then on.
Such was the condition of the five children and one niece who were rescued from the cybersex den of their parents in Cordova town late last May.
From time to time, they would ask for their parents, only to be met with evasive answers from their guardians.
The eldest of the siblings aged 17 would ask caretakers that he be allowed to see their parents.
The 15-year-old showed resistance to therapy sessions conducted by psychologists.
“They cannot see their parents because our stress debriefing on them would be lost,” said Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.
She said the children already showed signs of boredom in the government center where they are housed.
The children and niece will be moved to a placement center managed by a nongovernment organization (NGO).
“The children will be enrolled in a public school with the closest proximity to the center,” said child welfare specialist Emma Patalinghug of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7).
Patalinghug said they are coordinating with the Department of Education (DepEd) in processing the papers for the children’s enrollment.
She said they told the children about their enrollment in a new school.
The five children were previously enrolled in a public school near their house in Cordova town.
Patalinghug said letting the children return to their school could invite unwanted attention that could affect them psychologically.
The youngest of the children, a 4-year-old girl, will be enrolled in the NGO’s playroom group.
She said the children will not be separated since they need one another as a support group.
Patalinghug said it’s too early to tell if there are signs of trauma in the children.
Magpale said the US Homeland Security were already given the hard disks of the computers used in the cyber pornography activities.
She said the disk drives will be used to trace the clients of the parents.