THE number of children who are victims of abuse and other crimes  in Pangasinan has gradually decreased  over the years from 2018 to 2022, according to the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD)  of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPO).

Likewise, over the same period (2018 to 2022) the number of children in conflict with the law also decreased.

This was revealed by P/Capt. Noeralyn Tamayo, WCPD chief, during the “Tongtongan ed PIA” on Thursday, November 16, who said that from January to November 15 this year alone, there are already 178 recorded offenses against children who were victims of rapes  and other crimes.

There were 319 cases of children’s abuse and other crimes recorded in 2018, 348 (the highest) in 2019, 284 in 2020, 248 in 2021 and significant dropped to 178 in 2022.

On the R.A. 8353 or the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, 252 girls who were recorded as victims of abuse or rape in 2018; 292 in 2019; 271 in 2020; and 230 in 2021 and dropped to 165 in 2022.

Other offenses where children were victims, according to records of the PNP included homicide, murder, violation of the new anti-carnapping act of 2016, physical injury, robbery with homicide and theft.

Also for the 10 months and a half of 2022, there were 39 Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) that were recorded, much lower than those that were recorded from 2018 onward.

Offenses committed by CICLs over the years follow: 151 in 2018; 130 in 2019; 75 in 2020, 58 in 2021 and 39 from January to November 15, 2022, showing a decreasing pattern.

The offenses committed by CICLs include violations of RA 8353 or the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, which are: 56 in 2018, 50 in 2019, 40 in 2020, 29 in 2021 and 22 (from January to date)

As gleaned from these statistics, there were more offenses for violation of the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 committed against children during the pandemic, at which time when they were on home quarantine and undergoing instruction via manual or online. In many of these, the suspects usually belonged to their own households or their relatives, including their neighbors.

The other cases committed by CILCs also included homicide, murder, violation of the new anti-carnapping act of 2016, robbery, physical injury and theft.

CICLs were involved in 48 theft cases in 2018, 34 in 2019, 14 in 2020, 15 in 2021 and only five in 2022.

Tamayo said the number of CICLs are expected to go down with the easing of the pandemic when both the children and their parents are going out from the confines of their homes. (Leonardo Micua)

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