Sexual abuse tops MP child cases

BONTOC, Mt. Province (Sept. 21) — Sexual abuse top the cases against children recorded in Mountain Province despite continuous campaigns against child abuse conducted by concerned agencies.

P/S Insp. Ruel Tagel of the Mt. Province Provincial Philippine National Police reported at the Provincial Council for the Protection of Children (PCPC) meeting that 14 out of 20, or 70%, of the cases of abuse of children recorded from January to August are sexual abuses.

Tagel said out of the 20, nine are rape, five are acts of lasciviousness, four are physical injuries, one is violation of Republic Act 7610 (other forms of abuses), and one for trespassing.

He said of the nine rape cases, five were filed in court, two were amicably settled, one is endorsed to the prosecution, and the other one is endorsed to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development office for diversion. Seven of the suspects are adults aging between 30 to 70 years old while the other two are minors aging 14 and 17 years old.

For the five acts of lasciviousness, two were already filed in court and two were endorsed to the prosecution. The other one was filed in court was dismissed because the victim executed an Affidavit of Desistance. Four of the suspects are adults aging 27 to 44 years old and one is 18 years old.

The municipality of Paracelis has the most number of abused children with 10, Bontoc four, Bauko, three, Sadanga, three, and Tadian, two. The municipalities of Natonin, Sabangan, Sadanga, Tadian, and Sagada have one reported child abuse case each.

Tagel said there are no reported cases from Besao and Barlig. # Juliet Saley/PIA-MP