THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has called for heightened vigilance on incidents of child abuse amid the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed in the National Capital Region (NCR) and its nearby provinces.
The DSWD, which also chairs the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP), called on partner-agencies and non-government organizations, as the National Government imposed lockdowns in the NCR and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.
Considering that during ECQ, the possible victim-survivors are locked in with their perpetrators and cannot go outside to seek help, DSWD called on all member agencies to ensure that the hotlines and helplines for abused children remain open and active.
Member agencies include PNP Patrol 911 911, PNP WCPC Luzon 0945-863-2235 or (022)420-6460, PNP WCPC Visayas (032) 410 84 83, PNP WCPC Mindanao 0928-604-6425 or 0917-180-6037, PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (02) 723-0401 local 5354 Fax No. (02) 414-1560, PNP/Smart text ENDOSEC (space) Message and send to 7444-28473, NBI (02) 523-8231 to 38 local 3454 to 3455, DOJ Office of Cybercrime (02) 524-82-16, DSWD Text DSWD blockchildporn URL address and send to 2327, or Text blockchildporn URL address and send to 0918-9122813; DSWD Psychosocial Support Hotline/ RRPTP Hotline - (02) 8931-9141; Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO)/IACAT- 1343; and Bantay Bata 163.
The DSWD also urged the local government units to ensure that all existing local mechanisms in the province up to the barangay level are activated and heightened.
These include the Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC), Local Council Against Trafficking-Violence Against Women and their Children (LCAT-VAWC), Barangay VAWC Desk, and the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC).
The department called on the public to be vigilant and report cases of all forms of abuse to break the culture of silence and cycle of abuse and protect the children's rights and welfare.
The country has enacted laws protecting children from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, and other conditions prejudicial to their development, such as Republic Act 7610 or Anti-Child Abuse; Republic Act 9775, otherwise known as the "Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009; Republic Act 9262 or Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004; and RA 9208 as amended by RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, among others.