Duterte pushes for proactive measures vs child abuse

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 24) — Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday urged Department of Education (DepEd) and school personnel to be more proactive in helping children who may be victims of abuse and exploitation.

During an event for National Children's Month, Duterte — who's also the education secretary — said cases of child abuse can be prevented if these are reported to authorities.

"The only way (na) maka-intervene kami to stop exploitation, the abuse, kung alam namin kung merong nangyayari na ganyan. Kaya kanina, sabi namin speak up and speak to us, speak to the DepEd," she said.

[Translation: The only way we can intervene to stop the exploitation, the abuse is if we know these are happening. So earlier, we said speak up and speak to us, speak to the DepEd.]

Duterte shared that as long-time mayor of Davao City, she learned of the effects of abuse the hard way when she would get reports of abuse cases leading to the death of a child. She said she would ask city social workers why they would only find out after the child's death.

"We found out through our interviews in the community na karamihan sa atin — ugali natin — hindi tayo nakikialam sa gulo ng kapitbahay natin dahil ayaw din natin na magulo yung ating paninirahan doon sa community. What we usually do is keep quiet, turn a blind eye, turn our heads away, and then think as if hindi nangyayari yan," she said.

[Translation: We found out through our interviews and the community that most us, we do not interfere with what's going on with our neighbors because we do not want any trouble in the community. What we usually do is keep quiet, turn a blind eye, turn our heads away, and pretend it's not happening.]

Because of this, one of the measures Duterte thought of to strengthen Davao City's protection efforts for children was to find a way to report cases of abuse anonymously. This was accomplished by setting up a hotline and creating a "jingle" so people could easily remember what they should do.

Duterte sought to use the same technique in gathering information about incidents of abuse among students.

Last September, the DepEd's Child Protection Unit (CPU) launched a hotline where students can directly report incidents of abuse after allegations of harassment surfaced against teachers of Bacoor National High School.

Duterte is also pushing to establish child protection committees in each school. She believes this will help bring back learners' faith in schools' capacity to protect them against abusers.

The vice president also wants to make modules or learning materials that will help students recognize abuse.

"Sa mga guro at kawani ng DepEd, tulungan natin ang mga batang biktima ng pang-aabuso. Dahil ang mga suspek ay ka-trabaho natin sa gobyerno, mas kailangan ng mga biktima ang ating support. Usually in schools, the perpetrators are school personnel as well, nakikita namin iyan sa mga reports," Duterte explained.

[Translation: For teachers and DepEd personnel, let's help child victims of abuse. Because suspects are our co-workers in government, victims need our support even more. Usually in schools, the perpetrators are school personnel as well, we see that in reports.]

Moving forward, Duterte said the CPU also intends to launch a podcast, videocast, and e-learning courses among other projects to strengthen child protection in schools.

Meanwhile, the education chief defended a memo she recently issued, barring teachers from fraternizing with students outside the school setting.

"Going out with your students, drinking with your students, may alak, watching pornography with your students, that blurs the line of you as a figure of authority kaya lagi ko sinasabi sa teachers, you have to be a professional," Duterte said.

[Translation: Going out with your students, drinking with your students, there is alcohol, watching pornography with your students, that blurs the line of you as a figure of authority so I always tell teachers you have to be a professional.]