The Philippine National Police should do more to prevent child abduction and to solve cases of missing children, Gabriela party-list Representative Emmi de Jesus said Friday.
De Jesus was reacting to news reports that PNP Director General Alan Purisima attributed cases of missing children–four children have been reported missing this month–to negligence. “It would be parochial and myopic to pin the blame solely on parents’ and guardians’ negligence. The safety of children and communities is also both government and society’s responsibility,” De Jesus said.
She said the rising number of cases of children being abducted shows the police have been unable to secure communities.
“Amid increasing cases of missing children and unresolved child abduction cases, it is now important for the PNP to review its procedures in handling such cases and the proper implementation of existing laws on kidnapping and trafficking in persons is in order,” she said.
InterAksyon reports, however, that the PNP created a task force earlier this week to work on children reported missing in Quezon City, Taguig, and Parañaque. According to the National Capital Region Police Office, 40 cases of missing children have been reported in Metro Manila. Of those cases, 36 have already solved.
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Photo: Facebook page of Rep. de Jesus
