Senators seek probe of street kids’ treatment

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—Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Cynthia Villar are seeking an inquiry into the reported maltreatment of children in a Manila shelter.

The two senators called for a hearing on the treatment of street children and the state of shelters around the country, including the Manila Reception and Action Center (RAC).

Quoting reports, Santiago and Villar bewailed observations that the RAC was being run like a concentration camp, where the children were either neglected or maltreated.

They cited the Oct. 12 photo of a naked skinny boy sleeping on the pavement inside the shelter in Ermita, Manila, which Santiago said was proof of the lack of care for the children.

Lack of funds

The RAC has cited lack of funds for the condition of the boy, who has since been transferred to another youth center.

Bahay Tuluyan, a nongovernment organization promoting children’s rights, has been writing Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and the city’s social welfare head, Shiela Maria Lacuna-Pangan, to improve conditions at the RAC or shut it down.

Apart from poor health and nutrition, the children are also physically abused or tortured by the staff, and bullying is rampant among the children, Santiago said, citing reports.

A street child was beaten to death by other wards in the middle of last year, according to Bahay Tuluyan.

Maltreatment, negligence

On top of this, there are as many as 400 children in the shelter which can accommodate only about 100, Santiago said.

“It is imperative that further investigation be made to determine the veracity of reports of maltreatment and negligence at the center,” she said in Senate Resolution No. 1033.

Children rescued from abusive parents or guardians, or rounded up for vagrancy or for committing a crime are brought to the center, run by the Manila social welfare department.

Villar said that through the hearing, Congress could gather data on the condition of shelters around the country.

A study by Bahay Tuluyan showed that the RAC severely lacked facilities as the number of street children could reach 400, she said.

“Other than this study, there is little literature and data to be had on centers for children’s rehabilitation and reintegration into society, how and where they operate, the facilities these centers have, whether they are accredited by the DSWD, etc.,” she said in Senate Resolution No. 1046.

Villar said the Department of Social Welfare and Development should provide data on the number of these centers per barangay, municipality and city.

“The data gathered and review will serve as a basis for future and further legislation concerning these rehabilitation centers for street children, abandoned, and neglected children, to regulate and improve their capacity to nurture and reintegrate the children back into society, and to prevent these and any forms of abuse and neglect from happening again,” she said.

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