EIGHT of the 17 children in conflict with the law (CICL) who escaped from the Operation Second Chance (OSC) Center in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City last Wednesday morning, January 11, 2023, are back in the juvenile detention facility.
They were found by members of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, CCPO spokesperson, on Thursday, January 12.
Macatangay said they have coordinated with the parents of the nine CICL who remain at large to contact the nearest police station if they show up at home.
READ: Police looking for 17 minors who escaped from juvenile detention center
She said investigators have started taking the statements of the eight CICL so they can provide complete information.
They told police they ran away from the facility because they wanted to watch the Sinulog Festival activities.
After they fled last Wednesday, January 11, some went to their friends’ houses while some left the metro.
She said one of the CICL was rescued in Carcar City.
On Thursday morning, members of the Cebu City Mobile Force Company checked the cemetery in Barangay Carreta after they spotted one of the runaway CICL there.
Macatangay said they are still investigating whether the OSC Center management and the guards at the facility had committed any violation with regard to the escape.
She said one of their recommendations to City Councilor Phillip Zafra, peace and order committee chairman, is to add more security personnel at the facility.
“Part of it is the additional security to beef up the number of security personnel,” she said.
The OSC Center, which is operated by the Cebu City’s Department of Social Welfare and Services, is currently home to more than 80 CICL.
According to Macatangay, majority of last Wednesday’s escapees are between 15 and 17 years old with murder and illegal drugs charges.
She said they hope to find the nine other CICL before the end of the day. (AYB/PJB)