NGOs urge gov’t to stop round-up of minors

MANILA, Philippines — Twenty non-governmental organizations appealed to the government to stop the round-up of minors amid the campaign to rid the country’s streets of so-called loiterers.

In a statement Tuesday, the groups said they acknowledge that the policy intends to protect children from illegal drugs and other threats but stressed that the drive raises serious concerns.

The groups said taking minors into custody has “extremely detrimental effect” to them and these children experience violence at the hands of law enforcement officers.

They also raised concerns on the “insufficient safeguards in place” to ensure that minors rounded-up are appropriately protected as well as the inadequate and below standard facilities used to shelter children.

Moreover, the campaign violates the country’s laws and policies and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children, which the Philippines is a signatory, the groups emphasized.

Under the treaty, minors shall not be forcefully separated from their parents, be subjected to inhumane treatment and must be presumed innocent until proven guilty when they are accused of crimes or found violating penal laws, among others.

Aside from the appeal to stop arrest of minors, the groups also urged the government to immediately release children held in custody without prior authority or in threatening conditions and establish independent complaint mechanisms.

They also called on shelters housing children to meet minimum standards for Department of Social Welfare and Development’s accreditation and fasttrack the re-establishment of the National Network for Street Children and the development of a National Plan of Action for Children in Street Situations.

In a speech last week, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Philippine National Police to “arrest” teenagers loitering on the streets for “their own safety.”

A Freeman report said that minors violating the curfew ordinance have been the main contributors during “Oplan Tambay” operations in the Cebu province.

Earlier this month, Duterte ordered the PNP to impose stricter measures against loiterers, whom he described as “potential trouble for the public.” 

The anti-loitering campaign drew flak after 25-year-old Genesis Argoncillo was killed days after he was arrested for allegedly causing alarm and scandal.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives have called for an investigation on the anti-tambay campaign and the death of Argoncillo. 

READ: DSWD to build shelters for kids as 'tambay' drive expands

In a related development, Sen. Leila De Lima said Wednesday that including minors in the roundup of tambays only puts thousands of children "in harm’s way." 

"The freedom from arbitrary arrests is an inalienable human right. It is the inalienable right of our child. No State, other than a fascist one, can casually declare minors illegal for simply going out of their homes and occupying public space," she said.

"He equates their being in public spaces with the intention to commit a crime, which is like saying occupying public space is tantamount to being corrupt," the senator, a critic who is in jail for drug charges, added. — with Kristine Joy Patag