Friday, May 09, 2008 2 toddlers die; town officials plan charges against parents
TWO brothers from Dumanjug town, aged one and two, died over the weekend due to severe malnutrition despite food and financial assistance from town officials.
Their condition was so severe that the social worker assigned to assist their family failed to save one-year-old Glenmar and two-year-old Benjie Zamora.
Dumanjug Councilor Efren Guntrano “Gungun” Gica plans to take legal action against the boys’ parents, saying they have been irresponsible and did not take care of the children even when they were sick.
The toddlers lived with their father, Narciso Zamora, and their two older brothers in a small hut in Barangay Kanghalo, a hilly area in Dumanjug. The older brothers are also suffering from malnutrition.
Narciso, 30, harvests coconut for a living and would plow fields for a small fee.
Their mother, Ruth, 29, has not come home since she left home to work as a house helper in Cebu City last year. Her absence reportedly drove Narciso to drinking.
“Iresponsable gyud kaayo. Naa may amahan pero magsige lang ug hubog-hubog (They’re very irresponsible. The father is there but he doesn’t do anything but drink.),” Gica said in an interview.
The councilor said he is also considering taking the other Zamora children into custody to make sure they don’t suffer the same fate as that of their younger brothers.
Social worker Visita-cion Abelo said six-year-old Glen is now confined at the Barili District Hospital due to vomiting and loose bowel movement. Gerald is now under the care of their grandparents.
Glenmar died last Saturday and was buried the following day. When the family members and neighbors arrived home from the burial, they found Benjie already dead. He was buried last Monday.
Abelo said they learned about the case of the Zamora family last December when one of their daycare workers informed them about it.
Even if the family was not a beneficiary of their milk-feeding program at the day care center, they were given milk every day and a financial aid of P1,000 monthly for their daily needs, upon the instruction of Mayor Cesar Baricuatro.
“We can only give a small amount because we don’t have enough budget, and it is difficult to monitor what the parents are doing with the aid since they live far from the town center,” Abelo said in Cebuano.
Last Monday, Duman-jug Councilor Elly Sabellano visited the Zamoras and gave them P1,000.
Half of the amount was given to Narciso while the other P500 was given to the barangay officials, who were asked to buy materials to fix the family’s hut, which has no flooring.
Yesterday morning, Gica reported the boys’ death to the police in preparation for the filing of a case against their parents.(UP Mass Comm Intern Eva Marie Gamboa from reports of REV/Sun.Star Superbalita)
