From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 18,2021): Groups ignorant for claiming rescue of IP kids in Cebu fake (By Marita Moaje)
RESCUED. Some 19 minors belonging to the indigenous peoples (IP) communities reunite with their parents after social workers rescued them from the retreat house of the University of San Carlos-Talamban campus on Feb. 15. The IP children were reportedly taken away from Talaingod, Davao del Norte, and Sultan Kudarat in 2018. (Contributed photo)
The Regional Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in Western Visayas said that individuals and groups that claim that the rescue operation of indigenous peoples (IP) minors in Cebu are ignorant of the facts and the true issue at hand.
RTF6-ELCAC, in a statement on Feb. 17, said they are the critics are ignorant of the laws on child protection, and the country’s expanded anti-human trafficking laws.
“(They are) ignorant of the parents' plight, suffering, and emotional distress when their children were taken from their custody and wherein their children were transported to Cebu City without their express or implied consent by persons who are not even authorized to transport these children,” RTF6-ELCAC.
The primary goal of the Feb. 15 rescue operation, the statement said, is to reunite the IP children with their parents.
The press statements issued by various groups criticizing the anti-human trafficking rescue operations failed to mention that the minor’s parents were present during the operation and were the complainants and the aggrieved parties in the case.
“Be reminded that being a member of an NGO or an organization, however cute or charitable the name of the organization is, does not and will not vest upon any person the authority to replace the parental authority of the biological parents of a child,” said lawyer Flosemer Chris Gonzales, chairperson of the Legal Cooperation Cluster 6.
Gonzales said the University of San Carlos – Talamban campus, the collaborating institution where the rescue operation took place, should have checked and verified whether the minor “delegates” were truly allowed by their parents to join the “delegation”.
He said “assuming” that they have their parents' consent is irresponsible thus, the institution should explain the presence of the trafficked children on their premises.
Let the parents speak
He also advised those who are saying that the rescued IP children were saved from the conflict in Mindanao to speak first with the children’s parents.
To recall, about 19 IP children from Talaingod, Davao del Norte, and Sultan Kudarat were rescued by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development and Philippine National Police (PNP) Region 7 on Monday inside the University of San Carlos in Cebu City.
PNP-Region 7 chief, Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo, said the operation was launched after parents of six IP children sought help.
Some left-leaning groups including Karapatan condemned the operation saying that it was a “forced” rescue causing stress on the children.
He said minor children cannot just leave their homes and decide on their own to go with a group if their parents do not allow them.
Children should always ask for their parents' consent, otherwise, they should stay at home.
Gonzales said that they will eventually let the IP children speak after they undergo the necessary psycho-social intervention to assess how their absence from their families for a long time has affected their thinking and frame of mind.
IP minors turned into NPA child warriors
RTF6-ELCAC said the real cause of the problem is the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
It added that had there been no communist terrorist groups (CTGs) in the region, Mindanao would have been a haven for the IPs and the other residents.
Gonzales said that it is true that IPs are victims of oppression and injustice because their children are forcibly taken away from them by the CPP-NPA and turned into child warriors.
“This is a real injustice. This is real oppression,” RTF6-ELCAC said, adding that they cannot allow CTGs to use the children against their families, and the government.
Non-government organizations, including the legal fronts of the CPP-NPA have no right to interfere in the affairs of the IP families, Gonzales added.
They challenged the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and all the other organizations questioning the operation to know what a rescue operation is in the context of the enforcement of anti-human trafficking laws.
“Condemn the CPP-NPA and their pseudo-legal fronts for the atrocities that they have committed against the IPs of Mindanao. Condemn the CPP-NPA's recruitment of Lumad children as child warriors,” Gonzales said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131086
RTF6-ELCAC, in a statement on Feb. 17, said they are the critics are ignorant of the laws on child protection, and the country’s expanded anti-human trafficking laws.
“(They are) ignorant of the parents' plight, suffering, and emotional distress when their children were taken from their custody and wherein their children were transported to Cebu City without their express or implied consent by persons who are not even authorized to transport these children,” RTF6-ELCAC.
The primary goal of the Feb. 15 rescue operation, the statement said, is to reunite the IP children with their parents.
The press statements issued by various groups criticizing the anti-human trafficking rescue operations failed to mention that the minor’s parents were present during the operation and were the complainants and the aggrieved parties in the case.
“Be reminded that being a member of an NGO or an organization, however cute or charitable the name of the organization is, does not and will not vest upon any person the authority to replace the parental authority of the biological parents of a child,” said lawyer Flosemer Chris Gonzales, chairperson of the Legal Cooperation Cluster 6.
Gonzales said the University of San Carlos – Talamban campus, the collaborating institution where the rescue operation took place, should have checked and verified whether the minor “delegates” were truly allowed by their parents to join the “delegation”.
He said “assuming” that they have their parents' consent is irresponsible thus, the institution should explain the presence of the trafficked children on their premises.
Let the parents speak
He also advised those who are saying that the rescued IP children were saved from the conflict in Mindanao to speak first with the children’s parents.
To recall, about 19 IP children from Talaingod, Davao del Norte, and Sultan Kudarat were rescued by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development and Philippine National Police (PNP) Region 7 on Monday inside the University of San Carlos in Cebu City.
PNP-Region 7 chief, Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo, said the operation was launched after parents of six IP children sought help.
Some left-leaning groups including Karapatan condemned the operation saying that it was a “forced” rescue causing stress on the children.
He said minor children cannot just leave their homes and decide on their own to go with a group if their parents do not allow them.
Children should always ask for their parents' consent, otherwise, they should stay at home.
Gonzales said that they will eventually let the IP children speak after they undergo the necessary psycho-social intervention to assess how their absence from their families for a long time has affected their thinking and frame of mind.
IP minors turned into NPA child warriors
RTF6-ELCAC said the real cause of the problem is the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
It added that had there been no communist terrorist groups (CTGs) in the region, Mindanao would have been a haven for the IPs and the other residents.
Gonzales said that it is true that IPs are victims of oppression and injustice because their children are forcibly taken away from them by the CPP-NPA and turned into child warriors.
“This is a real injustice. This is real oppression,” RTF6-ELCAC said, adding that they cannot allow CTGs to use the children against their families, and the government.
Non-government organizations, including the legal fronts of the CPP-NPA have no right to interfere in the affairs of the IP families, Gonzales added.
They challenged the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and all the other organizations questioning the operation to know what a rescue operation is in the context of the enforcement of anti-human trafficking laws.
“Condemn the CPP-NPA and their pseudo-legal fronts for the atrocities that they have committed against the IPs of Mindanao. Condemn the CPP-NPA's recruitment of Lumad children as child warriors,” Gonzales said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131086
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.