“If only every after three minutes, we would look for our child to ensure that they safe and far from danger.”
This was underscored by Councilor Avegayle Dalodo Ortiz on Monday during a media interview, as to the prevalence of rape case.
Ortiz, who heads the Council for the women, children, and family relations, reiterated that parents should be vigilant on the happenings of children, to prevent these abuses from happening to them.
“I’m encouraging our parents to please monitor your children, because we do not have control on to the environment they are exposed to,” Ortiz said during an interview with the media on Monday’s flag raising ceremony.
Ortiz, along with City Administrator Zuleika Lopez and City Social Services and Development Office head Malou Bermudo, officiated the opening of the National Children’s Month, wherein a series of activities and consultations will be conducted in line with the month long celebration.
She also encouraged them to constantly remind their children to be always mindful on the risks of abuses they would undergo if they would not be cautious.
Ortiz, a mother to a five-year-old daughter, also reminded those perpetrators to think twice on committing such act, as laws such as Republic Act 7610 (Anti-Child Abuse Law) and Republic Act 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997) prohibits such heinous act.
However, she opened up that there should be further awareness within the family, with the rampant occurrences of incest rape case
“Most of the cases of rape are incest rape, wherein those involved are within the family, such as from the relatives or worse, it’s the father who commits the wrong doing,” Ortiz said.
She also said that the City Government of Davao had been conducting series of awareness drives through the CSSDO, Barangay Council for the Protection of the Children and the Council for the Welfare of Children.
In an August report by the Philippine National Police (PNP), Davao City has the highest number of rape cases among major cities in the country.
According to PNP’s 2nd quarter report, Davao City has 42 reported rape cases, Quezon City is only a number behind with 41.
However, this was refuted by the Police Regional Office, and insisted that the report focused on only one aspect of the figure.
On the part of CSSDO, they tallied 95 this year, from 120 cases in 2017, both in the same period of January to June — as reported by DCPO City Director Alexander Tagum, citing the Rape Data of the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) Investigation and Detection Manaagement Board (IDMB).
