DSWD admits Manila children’s shelter ‘overburdened,’ not built to provide long-term care

By: Aries Joseph Hegina - 10 years ago

An official of Bahay Tuluyan, a nongovernment organization promoting children’s rights, took this picture of “Frederico” during an Oct. 12 visit to the Reception and Action Center, a youth shelter run by the Manila city government. COURTESY OF BAHAY TULUYAN

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) admitted Tuesday that a Manila city government-run shelter for vagrant children, which has come under fire due to charges of neglect and abuse, was not built to accomodate and support children inside the facility for a long period of time.

“Ang MRAC ay parang isang processing facility. Hindi talaga siya built para magkaroon ng long term na kliyente,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Javier Jimenez said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.

(The MRAC is a processing facility. It was not built to accomodate clients in the long term.)

He added that the children inside the MRAC should be brought back to their homes or sent to the care of nongovernment organizations.

Meanwhile, Jimenez lamented that the said facility is “overburdened”, as it is only built to accomodate 50 children but often houses 250.

“Overburdened na talaga sila [MRAC staff]. Hindi na kaya talaga ng facility ‘yung dami ng kliyente na mina-manage nila,” Jimenez added.

(They are overburdened. The facility cannot manage the number of clients they are supporting.)

He bared that the DSWD has filed various recommendations to improve conditions inside the MRAC to the Manila local government since 2012.

Last Sunday, Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said that a fact-finding team will be formed to probe allegations of neglect and abuse in the MRAC.

Bahay Tuluyan, an NGO upholding childen’s rights, has deemed the facility as a “concentration camp” for street children after noting that the children are suffering from poor nutirition, physical abuse, and torture.