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Statement of RTF6-ELCAC on the rescue of the IP children in Cebu City and their Reunification

The press statements issued by various groups that criticize the anti-human trafficking rescue operations conducted by the inter-agency task group on February 15, 2021, in Cebu City failed to mention and highlight the fact that the parents of the minors who were subject of the rescue operations were present during the operations and were in fact, the private complainants and the aggrieved parties in the said anti-human trafficking operations.


Those who claim that the rescue operation undertaken by the joint interagency task group was fake are either ignorant of the antecedent facts leading to the rescue operations,


ignorant of the laws on child protection


ignorant of this country's expanded anti-human trafficking laws; and


ignorant of the parents' plight, suffering, and emotional distress when their children were taken from their custody and wherein their children were transported to Cebu City WITHOUT THEIR EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONSENT BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT EVEN AUTHORIZED TO TRANSPORT THESE CHILDREN.


Be reminded that being a member of an NGO or an organization, however cute or charitable the name of the organization is, DOES NOT AND WILL NOT VEST UPON any person the AUTHORITY TO REPLACE THE PARENTAL AUTHORITY OF THE BIOLOGICAL PARENTS OF A CHILD.


On this aspect alone, the COLLABORATING institutions where the rescue operations took place should have undertaken measures to check, verify, confirm, and validate if the minor "delegates" were allowed by their parents to join the "delegation." Any assumption to this effect is beyond ordinary oversight; it is reckless, irresponsible, and will definitely warrant the fact that these institutions will have a lot of explaining to do as to why there are trafficked children on their premises and facilities.


Those who say that the rescued children were saved from conflict in Mindanao are those who have not spoken to the parents of the rescued children. The fact remains that these children were taken away from their parents. Let us focus on the undeniable fact that the rescue operation's primary goal is to reunite the children with their parents.