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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Wednesday, October 4, 2017
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BACOLOD City – The lack of enough security facilities was blamed for the escape of minors from the Social Development Center in Barangay Taculing.
Department of Social Services and Development (DSS) head Pacit Tero admitted that the center needs improvement.
“Kon lantawon ta ang SDC (Social Development Center), indi man gid na dira secure. Wala sang taas nga pader, gubaon ang gate,” Tero lamented.
Despite the shortcomings, Tero said they are doing their best to rehabilitate and guard the minors.
The Bacolod City Police Office said the minors who escape from the center were involved in some robberies in the city.
Police Station 4 head Chief Inspector Ritchie Gohee cited an example of a 14-year-old boy who was arrested last week in Barangay Villamonte.
Gohee said the boy went back to his robbery shenanigans after escaping the center.
The boy is now under the custody of the DSSD.
Tero has already called the attention of the center’s house parents regarding the matter.
She explained that four house parents are shifting schedules to watch over the minors every eight hours.
A Public Order and Safety Office personnel accompanies the house parents, Tero added.
And while she admitted that the center does not have enough security facilities, Tero said the boy’s escape was only “by chance.”
According to the house parents, the boy escaped during an activity in the center.
Moreover, Tero issued a memorandum order prohibiting the minors from going outside the center, even with a house parent as company.
For his part, Councilor Bartolome Orola said he authored a resolution urging the DSSD to install closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) at the center.
The CCTV installation will be advantageous, Orola said.
“It will monitor the activities of the kids and visitors as well as the goings-on at the center,” he explained./PN
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