DSWD says rescued children in Leyte deserves foster parents

BURAUEN, Leyte, Sept. 27 (PNA) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development is now looking for foster parents who will adopt the two children rescued last week from a toilet converted into a makeshift house in an upland village here.

DSWD Eastern Visayas Regional Director Restituto Macuto said they will never allow those children to go hungry again after years of suffering hunger under the watch of a mother believed to be suffering from mental retardation.

On Sept. 23, the Burauen municipal and social welfare and development office brought the children to the DSWD Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) in Palo, Leyte. They will stay there for three months while the government is still looking for foster parents.

“Their stay at the center is just temporary. The DSWD will look for foster families from the municipality first, but priority would be the relatives,” said DSWD Eastern Visayas Regional Director Restituto Macuto.

Foster care is a full-time ancillary care of children outside their own home by people other than their biological or adoptive parents or legal guardian. In foster care cases, the child’s biological or adoptive parents, or other legal guardians temporarily give up legal custody of the child, according to DSWD.

Macuto said their office will make sure that foster parents have the financial capacity to raise the children and send them to school.

Burauen municipal social welfare and development office (MSWDO) chief Vilma Abad that if within three months, no relatives of the children will act as foster parents, the local government will again ask permission or agreement from the center head to extend the children’s stay at the facility.

“If none will appear to act as custodians of the children, the center will ask for the relatives of the children to sign a deed of voluntary commitment. Once signed, the children will be under the custody of the center and they will decide as to what intervention is proper for them. They can be open for adoption,” Abad explains.

The RSCC is a temporary home for abandoned, neglected, orphaned, surrendered, abused and exploited children, aged seven years old and below.

On Sept. 19, the local government unit here rescued the mother and their children from a tiny toilet converted into a makeshift house in the upland Tambis village more than a day after their plight has been shared over social media.The toilet can be reached through 300 meters hike from the village center, crossing two rivers. The village is about five kilometers away from the commercial center of Burauen, a first class town in central leyte is an hour drive from Tacloban, the regional capital.

Abad recalled that the children were begging for food during the rescue operation.

“They’re really craving for rice, pancit and pork adobo. We fed and clothed them and took them to the rural health unit for check up,” Abad recalled.

The local government unit identified them as Cecillia, 34; Intoy, 7 ; and Erica, 5 (not their real names). Cecilia’s live-in partner and the children’s father abandoned them in Manila, forcing her and her children to return to Leyte back in 2012.

Eventually, the mother developed a mental illness and rejected by relatives, according to village officials.

For several years, they took shelter in a toilet built by a non-government organization for super typhoon Yolanda survivors last year. They don’t have lamps when it gets dark and no blanket to comfort them during cold nights.

The family survived from begging, eating bananas, and root crops. They were naked because all their clothes are completely worn out, according to Erica.

A Facebook post of a concern citizen showing their plight has drawn the attention of authorities and social media users. Some gathered donations for the children and others have pledged to help them. 

The post got more than 700 shares as of Tuesday morning.

Abad described the children as severely malnourished. The boy has been suffering Keratomalacia, an eye disorder that results from Vitamin A deficiency.

The DSWD regional office initially released Php 5,000 assistance for the food and clothing of children. “This is the first time that I’m wearing sandals and new clothes. Now I can eat rice three times a day,” said cheerful Intoy.

Since Sept. 20, the mother is now confined at the psychiatric ward of the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center. Village officials and relatives are taking in watching over here.

She will return to the community after two weeks. The DSWD assures support to the mother through her relatives.

The official asked netizens to use the social media to report about plight of abandoned children and others who are really in need. The official vowed to mobilize personnel to respond to complaints, utilizing funds from the department’s Protective Service Program.

Events leading to the rescue of a mentally retarded mother and her two starving children in the interior village in this town, have proven the power of social media to help those who are voiceless, said DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo during his visit here on Saturday.

“We need that kind of information because we’re not always aware of what’s happening. The social media has proven to be an effective way of providing help to those who don’t have the voices,” Taguiwalo told reporters.

On Friday, the MSWDO brought the children to the DSWD Reception and Study Center for Children in Palo, Leyte. They will stay there for three months while the government is still looking for foster parents. (PNA)
SARWELL Q. MENIANO & ROEL T. AMAZONA/EGR