POLICE are still searching for eight of the twelve Children in Conflict with the Law (CICLs) who escaped from the Operation Second Chance (OSC) facility on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2023, and have not returned.
According to Cebu City Police Office Chief Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, that they are now coordinating with the parents in an effort to persuade the escapees to surrender.
The majority of the facility's bolters are facing charges for murder, homicide, and illegal drugs, among other offenses.
Dalogdog urged the parents to bring their kids back to the facility in order to avoid aggravating the charges against them.
"Among panawagan sa mga ginikanan sa mga batan-on nga nigawas didto sa Operation Second Chance nga i-surrender na ninyu na ang inyung mga anak kay kung dili ninyu i-surrender mas madagdagan ang ilang kaso madagdagan ang ilang penalty," Dalogdog said.
(We are requesting the parents to surrender their children who ran away from Operation Second Chance; otherwise, their case will be more serious and they will face harsher penalties).
Dalogdog disclosed that he met with Operation Second Chance personnel right away following the incident.
It was discovered that the CICLs had been able to pass through the facility's weak fencing.
As a result, Dalogdog requested the OSC management to install a second gate to prevent the incident from happening again.
Dalogdog claimed that there are four police officers assigned outside the OSC, but the management does not allow them to enter the facility.
Instead, the CCPO chief recommended to the OSC management that a weekly Greyhound operation be carried out to remove contraband that the CICLs are hiding.
In fact, after the escape incident, the police recovered bladed weapons such as an ice pick, an improvised knife and a pipe, from the juvenile detention cell. (With TPT)