Gov’t continuously finding ways to aid child abuse victims

MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday said the members of a government inter-agency group promoting child protection are conducting studies on how to provide ample assistance and ensure justice is served to victims of abuse.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the Committee for the Special Protection of Children (CSPC), which is composed of the BI, Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), are working together in coming out with a better response and support to vulnerable children.

“Yes, the members of the inter-agency team are looking into the possible choke points in our system in terms of giving assistance to abused children. And we had several conversations, meetings with representatives of various agencies,” she said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.

Sandoval said the BI adjusted its system to make case management more efficient — from assistance to the victim, to interception, arrest and filing of cases against the accused.

“So, it’s not just one sided, it’s two-tier. We make sure that the child is protected and this protection is provided by all government agencies. And at the same time, the accused faces the full extent of justice,” she said.

A revised protocol for the case management of child victims of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination (CANE+D) was launched at the DOJ office in Manila on Thursday.

It serves as a comprehensive guide for government agencies and stakeholders in handling sensitive cases involving child victims.

The CSPC, chaired by the DOJ and co-chaired by the DSWD, developed the revised protocol through extensive consultations with stakeholders, incorporating recent laws, emerging technologies and updated best practices in child protection.

The updates ensure that interventions remain responsive, efficient and child-sensitive.

The BI plays a major role in preventing cross-border trafficking and exploitation of children. Its frontline officers are trained to detect possible cases of human trafficking and child exploitation at ports of entry and exit.

“On the BI side, we already have an advance passenger information system. That is already rolled out, we are in the initial phase and I think more than 20 airlines are already connected,” Sandoval said.

As soon as an individual checks in from the country of origin, the data, identity and all the previous data about the person are already entered into the BI for initial vetting.

Sandoval said the Shield Kids campaign has also been rolled out in airports and various BI offices.

“This is like an opportunity for people to report to the Bureau of Immigration if they know of any foreign nationals who are involved in the exploitation of children. We partner with various government agencies that are also part of this inter-agency as well as CWC (Council for the Welfare of Children), which provided us with the youth helpline (1383) so that we can use it in this reporting,” she said.

Sandoval assured that the process of interrogation or interaction with young victims remains child-sensitive and will not cause additional trauma.

“In our country, we have protocols in place in terms of conversing with the victims. The DSWD is there in our inter-agency. For trafficking cases, specifically, we forward the subject to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking where the DSWD conducts intervention efforts to talk to the victims. So, we really protect them and at the same time, we pursue justice to catch their perpetrators,” she said.

— Ferdinand Patinio (PNA)