2 months ago
36
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Jose Rodel Clapano - The Philippine Star
April 5, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development is taking legal and protective actions against a barangay official in Camarines Sur, following allegations of harassment and abuses committed by his two sons against several children, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Wednesday.
President Marcos instructed Gatchalian to give assistance to the 11-year-old girl who wrote to him about the abuses being committed against her and other young victims by the barangay official and his sons.
“More than helping the shelter, we also have social workers doing the necessary psychosocial and emotional intervention. We’re helping the children, our social workers are already there,” Gatchalian told reporters after visiting the victims on Tuesday.
Both perpetrators identified in the sexual assault cases are the sons of the respondent, a barangay councilman in Caloco in Tinambac town, Camarines Sur.
One of the suspects was jailed five years ago and is being held at the Tinangis Penal Farm in Camarines Sur.
Meanwhile, the legal proceedings for the second suspect are still in progress as he remains at large.
Gatchalian assured the public that immediate psychosocial and legal assistance is being provided to the affected minors.
“Now, we just have to remember it’s in the best interest of the children. The children we saw were comfortable, and their parents are there inside the shelter, that’s why our track is to do technical assistance to help them rather than closing the shelter,” he said.
Aside from helping the victims, the DSWD is also extending financial aid to families seeking refuge inside the Redeemer Homeless Mission due to poverty and natural calamities.
Officials from the DSWD and social workers visited the facility last week, precisely because of a report made by the said barangay official requesting the closure of the shelter for lacking proper documents.
Instead of closing the center, the DSWD’s assessment team opted to guide the management in fixing the paperwork, recognizing the facility as a vital safe space for the community.
“The narration of the children, their parents and the shelter head is that they are being harassed. They are cutting their electricity, removed their water supply up to the point that we detected them because the same barangay official was the one who reported it to us that the shelter has no papers. That they wanted to have the shelter closed,” Gatchalian said.
To ensure full accountability, the Department of the Interior and Local Government is now investigating the said local official and others who may be involved in the incidents made against the shelter.
