180 cases of sex abuse in 2007

A total of 180 children were reported to the Department of Social Welfare and Development to have been sexually abused last year.

DSWD spokesperson Jaybee Carillo said that rape has the highest number with 99 cases reported, 47 incest and 34 acts of lasciviousness. The 34 cases of acts of lasciviousness documented by DSWD last year include those students of the Abellana National School who claimed to have been molested by a priest during a confession rite.

About 20 students claimed that they were harassed by Father Benedicto Ejares during a Life in the Spirit seminar. However, only seven have filed a case against the priest.

Carillo said they have also documented 137 cases of children physically abused; 54 children abandoned by their parents; 272 neglected and six voluntarily surrendered to them.

Although she failed to provide the 2006 data, Carillo said that based on her recollection, cases of child abuse last year in Central Visayas had significantly dropped. — Fred P. Languido/MEEV