A POLICE official has expressed alarm over the increasing snatching incidents involving teenagers in Angeles City's entertainment district in Barangay Balibago.
Police Captain Elaine Villasis, public information officer of the Angeles City Police Office (ACPO), disclosed this during the Talk Widus forum hosted by the Pampanga Press Club (PPC) in cooperation with the Widus Hotel and Casino on Wednesday, April 3.
An anti-drug operations conducted by the city police recently led to the arrest of three suspected pushers using minors in robbery particularly in snatching of foreigners' cellphones and wallets.
"Rampant yung snatching ng mga bata sa area ng Balibago and then na find out namin na yung mga batang malilit na ito na nang-iisnatch ay mayroon silang pinagdadalhan ng mga cellphones (Snatching done by children is rampant and we found out where they bring the cellphones)," Villasis said.
Children arrested for theft are turned over to the City Social Welfare and Development Office, according to the officer.
In response to this, Vicky Barbea B. Dela Torre, Commission on Population Central Luzon assistant regional director, said there will be a better society if there is "responsible parenting."
She stressed that responsible parenthood is the moral value of the agency's program.
"What we call children in conflict with the law or CICL, if we will really look at it, it all boils down to being responsible parent," Dela Torre
Responsible Parenthood, as defined in the Directional Plan of Popcom, is the will and ability of parents to respond to the needs and aspirations of the family and children.
It is a shared responsibility of the husband and wide to determine and achieve the desired number, spacing, and timing of their children according to their own family life aspirations, taking into account psychological preparedness, health status, socio-cultural and economic concerns.
Every member of society should observe the agency's program on population, Dela Torre said.
"It is in the individual couples' decisions that will affect our economic growth. Yung mga decision po ninyo na magkaroon ng tamang bilang ng anak at kanilang mga pangangailangan will definitely affect ang magiging output natin sa ating society (Your decisions to have the right number of children will definitely affect the our output to society)," she added.