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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
17 minors still detained at Cebu City jail
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña blew his top yesterday after finding out that minors continue to be committed to the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) instead of the city’s jail facility for minors.
An angry Osmeña asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 to investigate why 17 minors are detained at BBRC, and not at the Operation Second Chance.
Osmeña warned he will run after the policemen or the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel who will be found to be responsible for the mistake.
“I’m very upset…. First we were told there’s a child there, then it turns out there are two and now it’s 17. I’m asking NBI to investigate this because these children are not supposed to be there,” he told a news conference.
The report angered the mayor because just last Wednesday, the City Council passed a resolution criticizing Unicef and a nongovernment organization for showing a video documentary showing minors sharing jail cells with adult convicts at BBRC.
The council said this is no longer true after Operation Second Chance was constructed in Barangay Kalunasan.
“I was informed that some lazy policemen told the child to just say they’re 18, that’s why I’m going to cut some necks if we find out this is true, that there are policemen who are lazy to bring the child to Kalunasan,” Osmeña further said.
But the mayor’s information may not be true to all cases.
Cebu City Task Force on Street Children Executive Director Abeth Cuizon said some children lied about their age during their arrest to avoid being sent to Operation Second Chance.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 16, 2006 issue)
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