THE Department of Social Welfare and Development wants to provide the much-needed help of a child facility to save the so-called boy soldiers.
In an interview, Undersecretary for Inclusive Sustainable Peace Alan Tanjusay said children from impoverished families in conflict-vulnerable areas can be easily recruited to join rebel groups in the mountains.
“Young boys could be easily persuaded or forced to join the armed groups,” he told the Manila Standard.
“We give psychosocial interventions, not only financial aid, to save boy soldiers,” he said.
Tanjusay said these boys are being used as combatants, couriers, guides, and even spies.
He lamented that the Boys’ Care Center in Tagum City, Davao del Norte for children in situations of armed conflict has been neglected by the
local government due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“DSWD will try providing what is needed in this facility,” Tanjusay said.
In 2021, DSWD and the Tagum City government under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program built the one-hectare boy care
center operating 24/7.