Police effort on rape not enough, say

“I want to involve the teachers kasi ang mga victims ay 17 and below sa second quarter. ” Davao City Councilor MARY JOSELLE VILLAFUERTE

“I commend the police for doing their job and effort but I think it is not enough.”

This is what Davao City Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte said during an interview with SunStar Davao on August 29, 2018 after Davao City logged the highest number of rape cases in the second quarter of 2018.

Villafuerte said that the number of incest rape cases reported is already “alarming” and are possibly underreported so the teachers and other entities should also help out.

Villafuerte said she will try to sit down with the different agencies involved in the protection of women and children to create a multi-agency committee.

“I want to involve the teachers kasi ang mga victims ay 17 and below sa second quarter,” Villafuerte said, adding that in the multi-agency committee, she will include the education sector because she wants the teachers to be trained on how to teach their students about sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, Villafuerte said that she is trying to find a way how to help the victims to step out as it is believed that there are more cases of incest rape that are not reported.

“Mag-hesitate magkaso yung iba kasi family member din (Other families will hesitate to file a case because the offender is also a family member),” Villafuerte said.