Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman INQUIRER.net/Matikas Santos
MANILA, Philippines—A baby boy whose photos were posted on the social networking site Facebook showing him being manhandled by his uncle more than a month ago is now doing well, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The photos created a public uproar among concerned citizens and condemnation of his uncle, Daniel Villanueva.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said her department has been monitoring the baby’s condition to prevent him from being abused again.
Soliman said that the DSWD, through its regional office in Region 3, immediately conducted a home visit and assessment of the baby boy’s situation in coordination with the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office of Botolan, Zambales.
To prevent further incidents of abuse, the baby’s mother agreed to take her child away from her brother. An investigation conducted by the DSWD revealed that prior to the incident the mother, who has been working and living in another area, was not living with the baby boy.
“The child now lives with his mother and grandmother in another municipality,” Soliman said.
“An order has already been issued that, for a period of one year, the perpetrator will not be allowed to enter the house where the child is staying. The mother and grandmother were made aware that if the uncle is allowed near the child, the DSWD will have grounds to take custody of the child,” she added.
Ths Secretary added that the DSWD would provide financial assistance to the mother and child but did not say how much.
Soliman urged the public to remain vigilant and immediately inform concerned authorities about incidents of child abuse in their communities and to maximize social media networks in reporting abuses.
Meanwhile, the DSWD and the Claretian Pastoral Care of the Sick deployed volunteers to conduct stress debriefing to families affected by typhoon ‘Pablo’ in New Bataan, Compostela Valley Thursday.
Thirteen pastoral care volunteers led by Fr. Arnold M. Abelardo, conducted stress debriefing sessions to typhoon-victims to help them cope with the trauma brought by the calamity.
The Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) is a process that prevents or limits the development of post-traumatic stress in people exposed to critical events.
Professionally conducted debriefings help survivors cope with, and recover from the aftereffects of the calamity.
Fr. Abelardo has explained that sessions enable survivors to understand that they are not alone in their reactions to the typhoon, and provide them with an opportunity to discuss their thoughts and feelings in a controlled, safe environment.
“We prioritized New Bataan because it was identified by the DSWD and the local government unit as one of the severely affected towns in Compostela Valley, which resulted in high number of casualties,” Fr. Abelardo added.
He said they were set to conduct stress debriefing sessions in other typhoon-affected areas to be identified by the DSWD and the local government units.
“The survivors will be subjected to a different CISD approach while children will undergo draw-and-tell sessions to encourage them to portray their experiences through drawings in the hope of mitigating the effects of their trauma,” Fr. Abelardo expounded.
“Many of the survivors have lost their livelihood and family-members. Through the sessions, we hope to ease the tension, anger and other negative emotions brought by typhoon Pablo,” Abelardo added.
Meanwhile, the DSWD has deployed seven teams of social workers in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley to conduct stress debriefing sessions to typhoon victims.
Each team is composed of stress debriefers and camp coordinators. They conducted CISD to families for five days, after which, a new batch of stress debriefers arrive to continue the sessions.
Social workers from the DSWD regional office XI, XII and Caraga were sent to Baganga, Cateel and Boston in Davao Oriental; and New Bataan, Monkayo, Compostela and Montevista in Compostela Valley.
Soliman said the debriefing was necessary to relieve the survivors of the stress brought about by the typhoon.
“We are very thankful that faith-based organizations, such as the Pastoral Care Volunteers are helping the Department provide much needed stress debriefing sessions to typhoon-victims,” Soliman said.
As of December 18, the DSWD has served 2,299 families housed in 25 evacuations centers in Compostela Valley. The DSWD also assisted 97,477 families outside of the evacuation centers in Baganga, Boston and Cateel in Davao Oriental; and Compostela, Monkayo, New Bataan, and Montevista in Compostela Valley.