THE last of the 26 women “rescued” from a Mango Avenue bar in Cebu City last June 23 will remain in state custody after her family in Surigao del Sur pushed for her “rehabilitation.”
Government social workers said that they finally contacted the woman’s mother yesterday in Bislig, Surigao del Sur.
The mother told staff of the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development t(DSWD) that she wanted her daughter to undergo rehabilitation.
Edna Regudo of the Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU) said that with this development, they have to continue keeping custody of the girl even if she turned 18 years old last March.
“The mother said that she has long wanted to commit her daughter to the DSWD after she left home at the age of 16,” Regudo told Cebu Daily News.
For the teenager to remain in government custody, the mother has to issue a written commitment stating her intention to have her daughter stay with the DSWD.
The DSWD office in Bislig City, Regudo said, will have to forward the papers to DSWD-7 in Cebu to set up the rehabilitation program of the “rescued” girl.
“Even though she’s already an adult, the girl has to stay with DSWD because of her vulnerability to being trafficked again considering she has no relative in Cebu plus the fact that her mother wanted to commit her to us,” Regudo told CDN.
During the phone conversation with the mother, Regudo learned that the girl is not from a poor family.
Her mother owns two salons. The runaway teenager used to attend a private school until second year high school.
While staying at the DSWD center, she will have regular sessions with the in-house psychologist, social workers, skills training and will have activities that she may have missed while growing up.
Depending on her cooperation and progress, the teenager’s program may run from six months to one year, Regudo said.