SIX females and two males, who are all minors, from different places in Negros Occidental were rescued by personnel of the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) of Hinigaran Municipal Police Station on Thursday in Barangay 1.
The group was holding a meeting late at night at their “hideout.”
Senior Inspector Jerald Muya, town police chief, told SunStar Bacolod Thursday that the rescue operation was conducted after they received complaints from residents and officials of Barangay 1 about the usual meeting of teenagers at the house of 21-year-old Maynard Allen Gonzales of Barangay 12, Bacolod City.
They go out in the middle night for unknown reasons, which the village officials considered alarming, because of the implementation of curfew for minors, Muya said.
The teenagers were reportedly part of a group named "Mhadz" led by Gonzales. The group is believed to be involved in theft incidents in the area, but police have yet to confirm such allegation.
The teenagers tried to escape when the police arrived, but they were all brought to the police station and were sent home to their respective families after a counseling.