Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Angeles tourist belt cleared of minors By Dante M. Fabian
ANGELES City policemen are maintaining a close watch to keep minors, especially girls, from wandering at anytime of the day in the tourism district of Balibago in the city.
Angeles Police Chief George Gaddi ordered various branches of the police in the city to conduct daily round ups of minors to keep them out of reach of unscrupulous persons, foreign tourists and Filipinos alike.
Since the start of the New Year, inspections in the vicinity for minors have been conducted continually under Oplan Sagip Bata implemented by police officers led by Senior Inspector Myrna La Torre, Women's and Children's Concerns Section (WCCS) and Superintendent Pedro Ramos, Angeles Police-Station 4 chief.
Nightly patrols have been assigned to look out for children who may be victimized by pedophiles.
In a recent round up led by La Torre, Senior Inspector Kenneth DG Vega, Station 4 duty officer, and Senior Inspector Luisito Tan, Angeles Police-Station 4 deputy chief, resulted in the rescue of seven minors.
Parents of the seven minors who were found loitering the Fields Avenue area did not accompany them and some were found engaged in selling various items to tourists even at the wee hours of the morning.
La Torre said the youngsters' age ranged from 7 to 15.
Ramos later sent the youngsters to the City Social Welfare and Development Office for proper disposition.
