THE Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) have temporary custody of the four children whose Ati mother and Cebuano father were shot dead in Naga City in southern Cebu.
The four orphans were turned over to the DSWD office in Cebu City Tuesday night by an Ati tribe member guardian.
Jaybee Binghay, DSWD-7 information officer, said the agency would take care of the children for their security and for psychosocial interventions.
Police still haven’t solved the murder of Johnny Albero and Marjilly Sanger or found out why a gunman would enter their home and kill them.
Naga City social workers recommended the Sangers’ children be moved to Cebu City after their assessment of the the Ati community in South Poblacion showed that the place wasn’t safe for the children aged 9, 7, 5 and 2.
The kids spent their first night in an undisclosed DSWD shelter.
Binghay said that the children got comfortable after the Ati tribe chieftain, Lilia Sanger, their grandmother, joined them on Wednesday.
Representatives of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples, who visited the children, also pledged to give financial and legal help.
Binghay said social workers spent time letting the children “ventilate about the incident-related memories, stresses and losses” in a process called “diffusing”.
The children will also undergo psychological evaluation by the Philippine National Police. /Correspondent Jessa Christina Marie J. Agua