City not yet keen on running OSC

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña said the city government will eventually have to take over the management of the Operation Second Chance youth home from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Osmeña said this is provided for in the Juvenile Justice Law. It should have been done last year but was delayed due to budget constraints.

But Mayor Michael Rama is not keen on taking over the facility just yet because there is still a lot to be considered.

He said the national government should continue taking charge of the center until the Juvenile Justice System in the country is amended.

The BJMP and the OSC Management Board are currently running the center.

Osmeña said for now the city appropriates about P5 million yearly for salary of the house parents and social workers and for the food of the resident youth offenders. The rest of the operational cost is shouldered by the BJMP.

Osmeña said that eventually BJMP will have to pull out their personnel and financial aid when the facility is turned over to the local government unit. The city government will then need P12.5 million yearly to operate the facility.

Rama said funding is not a problem.

During the OSC Management Board meeting last Wednesday, Osmeña also said that they have decided to entrust the investigation into the alleged maltreatment of the children to the BJMP.

“If the guards will be found guilty, we also want to know what the consequences are. Based on the interview of Judge Sarmiento with the children, they named three guards who allegedly are maltreating them,” Osmeña said, referring to Judge Olegario Sarmiento, director of the OSC Management Board.

She said the children emphasized that the warden was not at fault.

She also said those residents who have turned 18 cannot just be transferred to a detention facility for adults in the absence of a court order.

Osmeña said that Sarmiento will be writing to all executive judges in Cebu to fast track the resolution of the cases of these children so they will not have to overstay at the center.

Sarmiento will also write to all LGUs with minors housed at the center to help bring justice to these children. Of the 173 youth offenders housed at OSC, 90 are not from Cebu City.

Of the total number 52 are over 18, one of the reasons that some reach that age and are still there is the slow progress of their cases.

DSWD pledged to provide more social workers while the Department of Education will reinforce the Alternative Learning System among the children. The Parole and Probation Administration also offered to re-implement the Therapeutic Community Modality Program.

Meanwhile, Sarmiento said he believes the allegations of maltreatment.

Sarmiento said he interviewed the inmates by pairs so that there will be no collaboration.

He added one of the things that triggered the hostage taking was cigarettes. Inmates from the adult jail threw cigarettes over the wall into the center but this was intercepted by either the house parents or jail guards. 

He also said he requested the BJMP to furnish him a copy of the result of their investigation so he will be in the know. — (FREEMAN)