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[av_heading heading=’Disregarding street kids dangerous – DILG Usec’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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Wednesday, April 12, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Street children must be taken care of. Otherwise, they might turn into criminals, an Interior department official said.
The city government must have a program for street children, stressed Atty. Jesus V. Hinlo, undersecretary for public safety of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Hinlo attended the City Peace and Order Council special meeting at the MassKara Hall of the Bacolod City Government Center on Tuesday.
He said he already suggested this in a previous Peace and Order Council meeting presided by City Administrator John Orola.
Street children need “special attention,” the undersecretary said.
“Why is it important for us to have a program for street children and even go further by giving them shelter?” said Hinlo. “If we don’t take care of street children, they have the potential of becoming criminals.”
Street children are protected by law, and they cannot be hauled to prison, he said.
“But once they reach 18 and they continue to be misguided, it is our fault for not taking care of them, bringing them to the right path,” Hinlo said. “These children could potentially become criminals and harm us.”
They can “steal your property, rape your sister, relative and friends, or even murder you,” the DILG undersecretary said. “It is not enough for us to look at them at McDonald’s and pity them.”
Hinlo suggested that city hall under Mayor Evelio Leonardia collaborate with government agencies working on the welfare of children and the youth, like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The city government may sponsor a skills training scholarship program for street children in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority under Guiling Mamondiong, he said.
The Department of Health, particularly the City Health Office, may provide for their health needs, while the Department of Education may cater to their schooling needs, said Hinlo.
“I hope we can have a program that will help them,” Hinlo said. “If the city does not have a shelter, [the local government] can bring them to the Boys’ Home and Girls’ Home. Social workers know better how to handle them.”
Evidently, their parents do not take care of street children anymore, he said.
Use the law on violence against women and their children to hold accountable the parents letting their children live on streets or incapable of taking care of their kids, Hinlo urged the Peace and Order Council.
“If the parents are no longer capable, let the DSWD make the necessary report and put them in a shelter run by government or the private sector,” he said./PN
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