ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Women and Children Protection Center for Mindanao (WCPCM) has expressed alarm on the increase of Online Sex Exploitation of Children (OSEC) here.
Master Sgt. Mal-Meradz Lagbas, WCPCM Field Office information officer, bared Tuesday that online sex predators have victimized some 35 children since January in the city.
"Many of these hapless innocent children fall prey because of lack of guidance and counseling from their parents," Lagbas said.
Meanwhile, the Regional Juvenile Justice and Welfare Committee in the region has recorded 103 Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) and 166 Children at Risk (CAR) in the first semester of this year, said Jacqueline Julpi, a social welfare officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Julpi said at least 121 at-risk children are currently housed at the DSWD’s Social Development Center (SDC) and 49 CICL at the Bahay Pagasa.
Meanwhile, Uldarico Fabian of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) said all the city’s 98 villages must create the Barangay Council for Protection of Children (BCPC) for them to handle cases involving CICL.
“We want to raise the awareness of the people that these children 15 years old and one day and below 18 years who commit crimes are considered victims and not perpetrators," Fabian said.
"They will not go to jail. It's either on diversion program or restorative justice or will be temporarily confined at Culianan CICL considering that they are still victims because they are minors,” he added.
While children aged 15 and below are not criminally-liable, Fabian said the parents remain accountable for civil liabilities.
“Most of them came from a dysfunctional family. That is why we reach out to the parents and provide counseling in the hope that these children will finally be out of the streets. Despite our efforts, they prefer to be in the streets,” Fabian said. (PNA)
