Global March Against Child Labor celebration: Capacity-building for police officers conducted by World Vision Project ACE and CDO Youth

World Vision’s Project Against Child Exploitation (ACE) and the Oro Youth Development Office (OYDO) in Cagayan De Oro City (CDO) conducted a Capacity Development Training of Police

Officers in celebration of the Global March Against Child Labor (GMACL) last January 19-21, 2023.

The capacity building entitled “Pagbansay” was attended by more than 50 police officers from 10 police stations in Cagayan De Oro City. Aside from enhancing the quality-of-service provision, it also aimed to improve the participants’ leadership skills through the “Bridging Leadership Framework” which aims to intensify campaigns advocating for women’s and children’s rights, and escalating child-friendly services in the community.

On the first day of the training, it was noted that the local government of Cagayan De Oro City is one of the major hubs of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) in the Philippines. Being a highly urbanized city, vulnerable children are prone to OSAEC, where mostly parents or relatives were perpetrators.

During his keynote speech, City Administrator Atty. Roy Raagas mentioned that there are parents who allow their children to be sexually abused online, which means even homes can be a place of danger for them. He then underscored the importance of working with different offices and organizations to eliminate child protection issues in the province.

“A big portion of the city’s budget goes to offices such as Oro Youth Development Office (OYDO) and Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) to come up with activities that support children so they can avoid the incidence of Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL) and OSAEC. Previous activities were conducted because of the support of our partners, like World Vision’s Project ACE. Since the project started, we intensified our work in three pilot barangays and now, we are targeting to involve all 80 barangays,” Raagas added.

Atty. Raagas also expressed the City Mayor’s gratitude to Project ACE for inviting them to be part of the Global March Against Child Labor celebration. “With the help of partners like World Vision and the US Government, we can sustain the gains hoping that this will pave the way for other local government units (LGU) to replicate what the project has done in our city. I hope other LGUs will be challenged to put more resources for the welfare and benefit of children,” he added.

Project ACE Manager Antonia Salamat affirmed Atty. Raagas’ message by mentioning the importance of working with partners in protecting children and promoting their rights. “We are partners in this work because we support the Philippine government in strengthening its capacity in addressing the worst forms of child labor including OSAEC. In CDO, we are very proud of OYDO and the local government because they have invested a lot in protecting children against abuse and exploitation,” said Salamat.

Role of the youth in nation building

Aside from other institutions and organizations, the youth also play a crucial role in advocating for the causes that affect children. It’s during these times when their voices are needed the most and when they should be given the platform to raise the children’s concerns.

Oro Youth Development Office (OYDO) is the youth arm of the city government of Cagayan De Oro which aims to represent the youth’s agenda in the local government processes and bureaucracies. The group also implements plans and serves as a training hub for various capacity-building activities in the city. Last December 2022, OYDO invited Project ACE Field Coordinator Jovie Sorongon to be one of the evaluators for the “Seal for the Child-Friendly Police Stations” emphasizing the importance of handling child labor and OSAEC cases in police stations.

Thereafter, OYDO and Project ACE started planning for the capacity-building activity for Police Officers in celebration of the GMACL. “World Vision has been very supportive in the advocacy-related activities of OYDO. The partnership helped us not only with the resources but also with the project team’s expertise. Aside from this, the role of Project ACE was crucial in convening stakeholders from different government agencies and non-government organizations. Their presence and support help us a lot in our work,” noted Lord Saver Centina, Officer-In-Charge of OYDO.

Enhancing the Quality-of-Service Provision of the Police Officers

Aside from the framework, police officers were also trained on the children’s basic rights and legal basis in handling cases related to children. Other sessions during the training include role-playing of the participants to show how they would handle cases related to child protection in their respective precincts.

In one of the sessions, Ms. Alexis Baldia, one of the speakers who discussed the Bridging Leadership Framework, underscored the importance of starting leadership with acceptance. “Being a bridging leader starts with the acceptance that there is a societal divide, that there are issues, and that somebody should take on it.”

PMAJ Noemi Caudilla, Chief of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD), highlighted the importance of capacity-building activities for the police force. They invited police officers not just from the WCPD unit, but also from different offices, with the goal of imparting the message that child protection is a concern of everyone in the force. The responsibility of protecting children should also include understanding the rights of every child, so that they can be their own advocates in police stations.

“Protecting the rights of children is not only the role of WCPD but everyone in the police force. When a child visits a police station or is in a dangerous situation, he or she will not specifically look for a WCPD officer, instead, the child will ask for any police officer available at that time. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we equip ourselves with the necessary competences to handle cases involving children so that we can provide them with better service,” PMAJ Caudilla noted.

On the last day of the training, Jonah Domingo, Cagayan de Oro City Council for the Protection of Children (CCPC) Vice Chair, stated that a child’s good life will lead to a progressive and developed society. Therefore, it is essential that everyone, including the police force, work together to create a child-friendly Philippines.

Project ACE works with different government agencies and non-government organizations towards the elimination of WFCL and OSAEC. The training was organized by OYDO and Project ACE together with BALAOD Mindanaw Inc. (Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw, Inc.), Philippines Island Kids Foundation, and Gugma sa Kabataan at Chali Beach Resort and Conference Center, Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City.

Funding is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL 34007-19-75-K. 100 percent of the total costs of the project in the Philippines is financed with United States Department of Labor funds.

About Project Against Child Exploitation

Project Against Child Exploitation (ACE) is World Vision’s advocacy to strengthen the capacity of the Philippine government to address the worst forms of child labor (WFCL) including online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) and violations of acceptable conditions of work (ACW).

Project ACE aims to impact child labor programs spread over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with particular emphasis in two key areas – Quezon City and Cagayan De Oro City.