Tommy hits council's for blaming Unicef over documentary of kids

Putting the blame on the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) for the allegedly unfair slant of the documentary "Bunso" is a defective and insulting move against the agency that has been helping the city government, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday.

Osmeña assailed the city council's recent call to Unicef to stop the showing of the documentary or to make some revisions because according to him the move is like "hitting the wrong target."

In yesterday's press conference, the mayor said the council should not hit Unicef because it simply funded the documentary, and it should be the producers who should be blamed instead.

Osmeña disowned the council's resolution because it did not have his imprimatur in the first place.

During last week's session, councilor Jocelyn Pesquera raised the controversial issues contained in the documentary and asked the body to stop its showing as it causes damage to Cebu City, which is portrayed as inutile on helping children, especially the juveniles in conflict with the law.

"Bunso" she said is a "disturbing documentary about three boys-Tony, Itsoy, and Diosel aged 11 to 13- who are detained in jail along with adult offenders. It is an immersion into the world of the city jail, with many poignant moments from the boys who speak their truth with innocence and street smartness, pain and humor."

While the documentary did not directly depict Cebu as the subject of the issue, its credits reportedly said otherwise, the council complained.

But Osmeña disagreed with the council contending that its reaction only gave the documentary the publicity it did not deserve.

He said that, like the council, his wife Margot, chairperson of the city's Task Force on Street Children was also upset over "Bunso" especially on the presentation that the city has no agency that takes care of children in conflict with the law.

Margot, for his part, said her Task Force has initiated the Annual Summit on Children, a child-friendly school system, and the Operation Second Chance.

She explained that there were 137 minor offenders relocated to the Operation Second Chance in 2002 but the number drastically decreased to over 50 percent after diversionary measures were implemented at the barangay level.