THE City Government of Davao launched Friday, October 28, the Anti-Child Abuse intervention called Kean Gabriel Hotline that operates 24/7 to address at once the cases of children who are victims of abuses.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio had seen the need to put up this kind of intervention in a bid to avoid incidents like what had happened to Kean Gabriel Agustin who was killed two months ago by his 21-year-old stepfather supposedly for misbehaving.
He was stuffed into a sack placed on top of a cabinet inside their family’s one bed-room house in Matina Pangi. The sack that contained Kean fell from the cabinet top to the floor. Kean allegedly died after sustaining injuries from being repeatedly hit with a wood by his stepfather. The boy's mother reportedly only watched and did nothing to save her son.
“No child deserves such a death,” Duterte-Carpio said. “No three-year-old child or any child of whatever age should die or suffer from abuse or neglect from the hands of anybody.”
Thus, the mayor formed the inter-agency group for a speedy response and delivery of services to abused children. “Children should, at all times, be protected.”
The team is an inter-agency coordination composed of social workers, police officers, health professionals, and paralegals.
The offices involved in the hotline are the Integrated Gender Development Division (IGDD), the City Health Office (CHO), Central 911, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Children Center of City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO).
The team will join forces and will be dispatched to rescue the abused children. The hotline is under the Quick Response Team for Children Center (QRTCC) of CSSDO.
Juenalyn Pablo, QRTCC Head, said that 25 employees were recently trained on receiving reports, counseling and therapeutic voice and resiliency, and stress management. They also reviewed laws that protect the right of the children.
“It is primarily for prevention of child abuse. A help line for either the ‘victim’ or the witness of abuse happening in the community,” Mandin said.
The mayor's chief-of-staff lawyer Raul Nadela hopes that with the hotline, abuses against children will be reduced.
Nadela also said that they intentionally created the number with “444” at the end since Kean Gabriel had just turned four Saturday, October 29.
He is confident that it would intensify their awareness campaign to avoid untoward incidents involving children.