Child abuse cases dropped

THE NUMBER of child abuse complaints in the city has decreased, reports from the City Social Services and Development

Office (CSSDO) revealed yesterday.

CSSDO head Maria Luisa Bermudo said the effort of the city government in campaigning against child abuse has paid off.

“Through the efforts of the city government, such as coordinating with the barangays, the city government has been winning against child abuse,” Bermudo said.

The number of calls received by the Kean Gabriel Hotline has significantly gone down over the past few months.

“When we started, there was a huge number of calls that we received, but on our third year, this year, it decreased,” Bermudo said.

She said the campaign against child abuse has given a great projection to the city government’s advocacy against violence to children. The campaign aims to reduce cases of children being illtreated by people that are supposed to care for them.

Reports also show that in 2018, the Kean Gabriel Hotline received a total of 456 calls reporting child abuse cases. For the first 10 months of this year, they reported only 94 calls of complaints, evincing the decrease of numbers in the cases of child abuse in the city.

Bermudo also pointed out the efforts of the barangays to initiate programs that aim to protect children from maltreatment and abuse.

“These declining complaints can be attributed to our intensified campaign for the protection of children, especially the involvement of barangays,” she said.

The city government sees the decline of hotline calls as a good sign to even boost their campaign and reduce cases of child abuse in the city.

The Kean Gabriel hotline was the brainchild of Mayor Sara Duterte in memory of Kean Gabriel Agustin, the three year-old child who died of abuse in the hands of his stepfather in August 2016. The incident bared violence, neglect, and possible death to children under those who are expected to shelter them into loving arms. By Samantha T. Burgos