Sunday, May 11, 2008 Cabaero: Support mechanisms By Nini B. Cabaero Beyond 30
TWO terrible deaths reported last week were those of two children who were abandoned by their mother and left to the care of their despondent father.
Benjie Zamora, 2, and his younger brother Glenmar, 1, never had a chance at a happy childhood or a full life. They died hungry, severely malnourished, when their parents left them with their slightly older siblings and without food and care.
They lived with their father, Narciso Zamora, in a hut in Barangay Kanghalo of Dumanjug town. Their two older brothers were also reported to be suffering from malnutrition.
Dumanjug is a mere two to two-and-a-half hours drive from Cebu City. It isn’t a town that is isolated from government service. It isn’t known for having the worst malnutrition problems. It isn’t like the other depressed areas of the Visayas or Mindanao where the poorest of the poor live.
What happened to Benjie and Glenmar, according to social welfare workers, was that their mother Ruth left them to seek a job as a househelp in the city. Their father later found out Ruth was already living with another man. This reduced him to desperation with alcohol as his only companion. He forgot to feed and care for his four children.
Social welfare workers and local officials were too late for Benjie and Glenmar. With Glenn, 6, and Gerald, 5, they could still rescue them from their father.
The Zamora family is like the thousands of families who have members forced to be away from their loved ones in their search for jobs. Except, in the Zamora family’s case, the parent left behind was unable to cope with being alone and with the consequences of his wife’s separation from them.
Many mothers have left their families to seek work in the city or abroad in order to have the capacity to send money back home for the children’s needs. There have been stories of success and of continued family bonds despite the distance. There have been sad stories too.
Local officials of Dumanjug have taken the pains to explain what their social workers have done to prevent the deaths. They gave clothes, food and money to the family. For the two remaining siblings, they have started the process to ensure their health and, if necessary, to take custody of them.
Town Councilor Efren Guntrano Gica expressed the government’s concern when he said charges would be filed against the parents because “makaingon unya ang mga tawo na walay gibuhat ang LGU.” (People might say the local government did not do anything.)
The blame falls primarily on the parents, but what happened to the Zamora toddlers signals too the need for government and the community to expand support mechanisms to parentless families.
Material and financial aid might no longer be enough. With the trend continuing, of mothers or fathers leaving families to seek jobs, support mechanisms that approach the physical, mental and the psychological as well become essential.
