The chief of the Quezon City Police District said Wednesday that the Philippine National Police doesn’t arrest minors who are loitering, but “rescues” them.
In a roundtable discussion, Chief Supt. Joselito Teodoro Esquivel, director of the QCPD, said loitering is not a crime, and the police have not been ordered to arrest loiterers.
The QCPD has been under fire after one man arrested in its anti-loitering sweep was beaten to death, allegedly by his fellow inmates, while in jail.
But Esquivel said the police were ordered to enforce local ordinances pertaining to discipline and to ensure the safety of the community.
He added that arresting minors is against the law and that any of them who have been “rescued” are turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
He said that the rescuing of minors is a part of their war on drugs and they only aim to protect and preserve the youth.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered police to round up minors who are loitering the streets after their curfew stating that “it is for their own protection.”
They were under the custody of the DSWD and barangay officials until claimed by their parents.
The DSWD said their centers were on call 24 hours a day and seven days a week to give assistance to minors who need their help.
DSWD Acting Secretary Virginia Orogo made this remark after Duterte ordered the PNP to pick up loitering teenagers to protect them from crime and illegal drugs.
Orogo said that DSWD centers’ doors will be open to loitering youths the same way they are open to street children and their families.
DSWD has previously urged the public to report, through Twitter, sightings of street children so that social workers can be sent to rescue them.
Moreover, Orogo said social workers also take calls through the national emergency and complaint hotlines, 911 and 8888, respectively.
Orogo said that at present, the DSWD has a total of 72 centers but usually accommodate senior citizens. However, she said that the agency is currently adding 50 more beds in each center to accommodate more people.
There is also an upcoming program called “Silungan sa Barangay,” meant to allocate space for street kids and their families, which is on the table for further study. With PNA
