“Since 28 January up to this moment, this exact moment, I can attest that there are still military forces camping in our community, 7 houses are occupied including mine” Christina Lantao said.
A councilor noted on Adoption Consciousness Week this February 15 to 23 that the high number of adoption cases of children raises deeper issues on children abandonment.
A mother of two daughters and married to a house painter, April saw how her friend was earning from chatting through the Piso-Net, a small Internet kiosk where one pays a peso for five-minute Internet access.
Child advocates among non-government and local government want more effort in disseminating awareness and support to children who are victims of sexual abuse.
A children’s advocacy group said classes were disrupted as school children were “too afraid to go to school” after military troops “encamped” in their classrooms in a farflung village in Compostela, Compostela Valley province.
A child of a protester holds up a placard during a rally at Davao City’s Rizal Park commemorating the 65th International Human Rights Day. (davaotoday.com photo by Medel V. Hernani)
This child is unmindful of the risk of going around a busy intersection to ask for money from motorists. (davaotoday.com photo by Medel V. Hernani)
Children who were traumatized by military operations in their farm communities in Compostela Valley and Agusan del Sur attend an art workshop at Davao City People’ Park last Sunday as part of psycho-social intervention program by the Kabiba Alliance for Children’s Concern and Children’s Rehabilitation Center. (davaotoday.com photo by Medel V. Hernani)
The two teenage lumad minors detained last July 22 in Loreto, Agusan del Sur, are finally free to go as the murder complaint against them by the military were dismissed by the provincial state prosecutor. The minors, Alan, aged 16; and John, 17 (both not real names) were flagged down by soldiers and paramilitary in their village and were reportedly tortured the night before they were detained. (davaotoday.com photo by John Rizle L. Saligumba)
These five kids are awardees from the Davao region’s four provinces and Davao City for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Pantawid Exemplary Child 2013. The DSWD program gives monthly cash grants of P 1,400 to school children’s family as long as they perform well at school. A total of 192,881 households in Davao Region are beneficiaries. But a report from think-tank IBON Foundation questioned its effectivity in alleviating poverty, as they cited government audit that some P 4 billion of the program remained unliquidated and P 50 million were misspent on non-beneficiaries. (davaotoday.com photo by Ace R. Morandante)
