TWO agencies must take the lead and file child abuse charges against the 13 members of the Caloocan City police who brought along a minor when they raided and robbed a house, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said on Sunday.
The Social Welfare and Justice departments are the lead agencies tasked to enforce the 1992 law protecting children. They should be the ones to file the criminal charges against the officers involved,” the senior deputy minority leader said.
Atienza also urged the DSWD to take protective custody of the child, who was caught stealing valuables during the unlawful police search.
“We cannot have our very own officers of the law exploiting children, just like Akyat Bahay gangs using kids to break into homes, or drug pushers taking advantage of minors as movers,” Atienza said.
The lawmaker said Republic Act 7610 expressly penalizes the use of children under 18 years of age as police guides, couriers or spies, or their use in illegal activities such as robbery, as well as their exposure to any form of danger, including threats that they might get harmed during possible hostilities.
“What the officers did in this case constitutes gross inexcusable ignorance of the law and barefaced negligence,” Atienza said, adding that under the law, they face dismissal from service, prison terms, and perpetual disqualification from public office.
The 13 officers who barged into the home of a 51-year-old woman in Barrio Sta. Rita, Barangay 188, Tala on Sept. 7 without a search warrant are already facing a robbery charge.
They stole cash and watches worth P30,000 from the house. They also did not file a spot report after their search, which did not yield any drugs.
The erring officers likewise committed violations when they allowed a civilian informer to carry a firearm and participate in the search, and when they wore clothes that made it difficult to ascertain whether they were hooligans or agents of the law, according to the National Police Commission.
All 1,200 members of the Caloocan police have been sacked on account of the break-in and robbery that was caught on security video and broadcast over TV and the Internet, amid prior accusations of complicity in the summary killings of two teenagers.
They will be made to undergo a 45-day retraining and reorientation program, according to Director Oscar Albayalde, chief of the National Capital Regional Police Office.