Child abuse raps vs ex-city official

CEBU, Philippines - For allegedly maltreating minors, the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas indicted the former administrator of Carcar City to two counts of child abuse charges.

Graft investigator Luanne Ivy Cabatingan said that based on evidence presented, probable cause exists to merit the filing of the cases against Edgardo Oca.

“To warrant the indictment of respondent, pro-bable cause for violation of Republic Act 7610 must be established. Here, complainants have successfully established the existence of probable cause,” Cabatingan’s resolution reads.

 Cabatingan recommended a P120,000 bail for Oca’s temporary liberty.

 Complainants alleged that their encounter with Oca happened around 7 p.m. on April 24, 2012 near the gate of Dancing Sun Subdivision in Kalubihan, Bolinawan, Carcar City. One of them allegedly hit the right portion of Oca’s vehicle and Oca allegedly confronted, scolded and insulted them with a gun in hand.

They said they suffered acute traumatic stress because of the incident.

Oca denied the allegations, saying he only scolded the boys when they hit his vehicle. He said he never hit them physically nor used a gun to scare them.

Oca said that under the circumstances, being angry and scolding the children were natural and normal reactions, considering he was receiving several death threats at that time.

But Cabatingan said the statements of the boys weighed more than Oca’s defense. The complainants also presented evidenced that they experienced trauma because of what happened.

“The Initial Evaluation Report of the psychologist indicated that the minors were found to have manifested symptoms and behaviors indicative of acute traumatic stress reaction, in relation to the incident that happened on April 24, 2012,” Cabatingan’s resolution reads.  (FREEMAN)