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Monday, April 21, 2003
Editorial: Who’s monitoring the monitors?
The filing of child abuse charges against a former principal has subjected the Sandiganan sa Pagpalambo sa Kabataan (Sapak), a school and stay-in facility for disadvantaged children in Compostela, to the scrutiny and possible intervention of the government for the first time in its 31 years of operation.
This may be due to the fact that Sapak was registered only with the Department of Education (DepEd), which monitored only its curriculum and educational activities.
And it may also be due to Sapak’s uncommon record of social service. Sun.Star Cebu columnist Juan Mercado wrote that Sapak began after Fr. Emmanuel Non, S.J. and Sr. Ester Paredes, FMM was granted “a loan of some land” to put up the institution, which “over the last 31 years... has equipped over a thousand kids, otherwise at a deadend, with skills for an honest livelihood. Sapak did that for free, too.”
The controversy clouding Sapak also came as a surprise to Compostela Vice Mayor Antonio Dangoy who said this was the first controversy involving the charitable institution. Dangoy admitted to Sun.Star Cebu that he had heard “hearsay accounts” of the youngsters’ maltreatment; however, since Sapak was a “private institution” of good standing, the Municipal Government did not meddle.
Dangoy also vouched that he had examined and found no physical evidence of maltreatment marking any of the 49 Sapak wards who turned up at the Compostela Police Station last March 29, claiming that Non had sent them packing home for good. (Non has denied this, saying the wards had asked permission to go home for the break.)
According to Dangoy, the Municipal Government has already endorsed the investigation of the charges against Sapak to its social welfare services. A check with Compostela social welfare officer Susan Paradiang revealed that the matter is now being handled by the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
But social welfare officer Emma Patalinghug clarified that the regional office is still waiting for the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to forward Sapak’s documents so DSWD can evaluate whether “there is a basis for Sapak to be licensed by us.” Stay-in facilities housing neglected minors needing special protection fall under DSWD’s scope.
DSWD 7’s information officer Jaybee Carrillo explained that while the regional office registers local institutions complying with basic requirements, accreditation is handled only by its Bureau of Standards in Manila. Carillo said the function remains centralized because it requires “personnel with specialization” who thoroughly check out a center.
In the case involving Terre Sans Frontieres, a “residential services center for children and youth” based in Lapu-Lapu City, a staff from the Standards and Regulation Board stayed for two days and one night in one of the TSF houses. Inspecting officer Marieta Flotildes noted that Marc Raoul Louvel, the director, was “very reserved, there were no manifestations he was gay.”
TSF was accredited in May 2001. In July, 2001, Louvel was stabbed to death by a former ward, who claimed he was Louvel’s sexual partner. Photos of some TSF wards in semi-undress were later recovered from the center by the police.
To beef up its monitoring at the local level, Carillo said the regional social welfare office is launching soon a special project tapping the approximately 100 licensed nongovernment organizations (NGOs) operating in Central Visayas. The Area-Based Standards Network (Absnet) will help the social welfare agency track questionable, fly-by-night NGOs.
Carillo said Absnet is intended also to educate persons assisting children and other disadvantaged groups to seek registration and accreditation with DSWD. Licensed NGOs can avail of duty-free donations and technical assistance from the line agency, specifically in handling the special needs of their wards.
Will this improve local monitoring, which is emerging now to be the choke point in the protection of children and minors against abuse and exploitation? |
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