LIVE: Senate hearing on cease-and-desist order on Gentle Hands orphanage
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate committee on women, family relations and gender equality is holding on Wednesday a hearing into the cease order issued against Gentle Hands Inc. for alleged failure to meet minimum standards for resident facilities for children.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, panel chair and who filed a resolution for the Senate probe, will preside over the hearing.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development issued the cease-and-desist order on Gentle Hands in Quezon City after an unannounced inspection led by Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian. He said that the children at the center were in "imminent danger" because of overcrowding, poor sanitation and inadequate ventilation.
GHI said the surprise transfer of the children to state-run facilities exposed some of them who were undergoing therapy to further trauma.
"While the safety and adequacy of living standards are important concerns, it is also important to determine whether or not the correct processes were followed in the removal of the children from a child care facility subject to a [cease-and-desist order], and whether or not these processes are informed by the 'best interests of the child' doctrine," Hontiveros' resolution reads.
The Commission on Human Rights said in May that interventions like the cease order on Gentle Hands should be implemented with minimal trauma to children.
Watch the Senate hearing from 10 a.m. on July 5, 2023
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