THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Central Visayas transferred five lumad (indigenous people) children from a DSWD-run facility in Cebu City to a DSWD center in its field office in Soccsksargen on Saturday, April 10, 2021.

In a press statement, DSWD-Central Visayas said that this move brings the children nearer to their parents who live in Sultan Kudarat.

The children were among the lumads “rescued” from a retreat house in Cebu City in February 2021.

READ: 13 Lumad kids flown home

The transfer was decided during a meeting on March 1, 2021 in Cebu City with the children’s parents, representatives of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office of Lebak and Colombio, Sultan Kudarat, and DSWD-Central Visayas.

They also agreed that the lumad children should undergo further psycho-social processing and participate in recovery and healing activities in a DSWD residential care facility.

The local government units of Lebak and Colombio will provide livelihood support to the children’s families and look for a “safer” place for them to live in.

During the transfer, the lumad children were accompanied by social workers and house parents. (NRC)