Thursday, November 22, 2007 BJMP orders transfer of warden after 7 minors flee from Second Chance By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Jovy S. Taghoy
THREE jail guards assigned at the Cebu City Operation Second Chance (CCOSC) will face child abuse complaints after one of the seven minors who escaped from the facility reported the alleged physical abuse inflicted on them.
It was the abuse that was allegedly committed in the past weeks that prompted the seven boys to bolt from the CCOSC facility in Barangay Kalunasan past 10 p.m. last Monday.
One of the escapees complained about the abuse to City Councilor Gerardo Carillo and first lady Margot Osmeña shortly after he turned himself in at the mayor’s house yesterday morning.
Margot, co-chairperson of the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children and member of the CCOSC management board, expressed her disappointment with Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) guards and the jail warden for their failure to report the escape and for the alleged abuse.
Senior Insp. Jennifer Joyce Abar, CCOSC warden, was already relieved from her post.
BJMP 7 Chief of Staff Marlon Torrigue, in a telephone interview with Sun.Star Cebu, said Abar’s relief took effect yesterday.
The order, which was issued by BJMP 7 Director Ruben Bonavente, also stated Abar’s transfer to the Mandaue City jail female dormitory.
Abar swapped posts with Insp. Merlina Metante, who was designated to replace Abar in supervising the facility for minors.
Supt. Torrigue said Supt. Cesar Balderas, chief of the intelligence and investigation section, was tasked to investigate, to determine the possible administrative liability of Abar.
He said no timeframe was set for the investigation but Balderas was told to finish it as soon as possible.
Isolation
Abar, in an incident report submitted to Bonavente dated Nov. 20, said the escape happened at 11:20 p.m. Monday, when the minors managed to bolt from their isolation dorm, where they were temporarily kept for “cardinal and house rule violations.”
Using a triangular file, the minors sawed off the metal bars of their cell and went down to the left wing of the facility adjacent to the road leading to the main entrance.
The minors, using a wire cutter, cut the interlink wire of the fence and escaped.
The minors reportedly took the triangular file and the wire cutter from the equipment they have been using in workshops.
The incident reached the attention of the “only BJMP duty” guard JO1 Fielberto S. Antiquina and house parent Elvie M. Cagas when other minors who were staying at Sto. Niño dorm called to inform the personnel that they saw a minor, who turned out to have been left behind by the seven escapees, “acting strangely.”
Torrigue said manhunt operations are still ongoing.
He said the BJMP 7 asked the Cebu City Police Office for assistance.
‘Abuse’
Charles (not his real name), 17, said they were made to kneel on a wooden bench while the guards pounded on their heels using a steel bar.
The abuse was allegedly repeated during their detention at the facility’s isolation cell in the past weeks.
“The boy said he and his cellmates can no longer bear the physical abuse inflicted on them, that is why they escaped. They were isolated and repeatedly hit with a steel bar. We have his affidavit and we will use it as evidence when we file charges later this week,” Carillo told a press conference yesterday noon.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will wait for the findings on the investigation before acting on the allegations against the jail guards and social workers, but he already cancelled the P1,000 monthly incentive given to all BJMP personnel assigned at the facility.
Social workers from the City’s Department of Social Welfare Services who are assigned at the facility will also be investigated for failing to report the escape to the CCOSC management board.
Carillo said the social workers are also aware of the corporal punishment inflicted on the minor residents as a way of disciplining them, but they also did not report the incidents.
Waited
Abar said she is not aware of the alleged abuse since the children never complained about it to her or any of the staff.
“They never complained about it to me. I attend the meetings with them every morning but they did not raise any complaint.
If ever there is, I assure you that BJMP does not tolerate it,” Abar told Margot and Mayor Osmeña.
As for their failure to report the escape, Abar admitted that it was a lapse on her part but there was no intention to hide the incident from city officials.
She said they were waiting to capture all seven escapees within 24 hours and that she had planned on calling Margot if they fail to locate them.
When they found only two boys, Abar said she tried to call Margot through the task force’s office but was not able to contact her.
Abar reported the incident to Margot only yesterday morning, or some 36 hours after the boys escaped.
“When you need muriatic acid or detergent at Operation Second Chance, you can contact me but when there is an escape, I cannot be contacted? Please, give me a break!” an irate Margot told the warden.
Come back
“There is nothing personal in this. What I’m very upset about is that we were not informed,” she said, adding that she only learned about the incident from reporters who interviewed her last Tuesday.
At the press conference, Margot appealed to the four escapees who remain at large to surrender to any of the city officials. She assured them that they will do everything to keep them safe.
“We heard the boys are worried about their safety once they are brought back to Kalunasan. I would like to make an appeal to those who left. If what they fear is for their safety, I would like to assure them they will be safe and they don’t necessarily have to go back to Second Chance,” she said.
If they return, Margot said they may file a motion in court for the children to be housed in other agencies or NGOs that house minor offenders.
Because of the incident, Grace said he will not allow her son Charles to return to the CCOSC facility.
Charles was to be detained for only six months for theft but because she wanted him to finish his woodworking vocational course inside the facility, she requested that her son be allowed to stay until he completes the program.
He already finished the short course but will deceive his certificate on Dec. 7 yet.
