What next?
POLICE operatives nabbed prostitutes along Kamagayan and Juana Osmeña Streets. Hauled them to and booked them at the police station and charged them with vagrancy. Those arrested would post bail and the following day, they’d be back in the streets.
Several minors were “rescued” by authorities from Jaguar KTV in Banilad several months ago. The KTV bar was ordered closed by City Hall for exploiting minors. But what happened to the girls, most of whom are from the province? Did they go home? I have learned that those girls are working at the Las Vegas KTV at the North Reclamation Area and the newly opened Club Harem in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City.
Suwito gyud ko no kung asa ning maong mga clubs. Nasira na pod ang Bulldog human mamatay ang tag-iya. Toa na nagpunsisok tanan sa Las Vegas KTV. Gisultihan ra pod ko ani sa akong kasaligang tinubdan kay wa man ko makasuroy aning mga lugara. Estoryahee!
After undergoing rehabilitation for several months, a drug user is reformed. But when he gets home, his old peers are still there. And because of peer pressure, he may return to his old habit.
I’m afraid the “rescued” minors from Cordova and Lapu-Lapu City, who were reportedly involved in cyberporn, might end up with the same experience.
After they’re rescued, what is next? The minors, most of whom are stu- dents, were identified by authorities through their photos taken from the computers that were confiscated in their previous raids.
Combined elements of the National Bureau of Investigation, the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and the International Justice Mission “raided” their homes and schools. I think it was wrong for authorities to pick some of them up in school. It might result to embarrassment and traumatic experience.
For sure, classmates and schoolmates of those “rescued” will tease them and might call them embarrassing names.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and DepEd officials have reasons to “cry foul.”
Our authorities should have been prudent in handling this very sensitive and delicate matter. Just imagine, some of those “picked up” were victims of mistaken identity.
Okay, those rescued are now in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Agency officials promised to provide them with shelter and basic needs. But for how long can the agency sustain their needs? What about their education? The agency’s aid is not only limited to food and shelter. Will it provide them with daily transportation allowance, personal pocket money and cellular phone loads, among others? Remember, these are minors and they also need leisure time.
I’m afraid most of them will bolt or escape from government custody. Their lives there might be boring. This is what’s happening at the Parian Drop-in Center and to other facilities that cater to minors who are in conflict with the law. Learning a livelihood is not yet in their minds.
But you know some people want easy money. And there is easy money in cyberporn. All you have to do is display your “assets” to online clients. I know that this is not only happening in Cordova. It’s all over. Pero dali lang kuno madakpan ang taga- Cordova, matod pa sa komedya ni Mayor Adi Sitoy. Unless and until our government can arrest the problem of poverty, this social problem will continue to exist. Believe me.