Justice for women and children - thanks to Ronnie

Battered women and children are now gaining justice and more importance in a traditionally patriarchal society with records of unfair execution of justice– thanks to DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno.

Secretary Puno called on victims of exploitation and abuse to seek help by going to the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) of the Philippine National Police that have been established in every PNP municipal station in the country.

Last July, our DILG Secretary announced that all the regional offices of the PNP were requested to complete their Women and Children Protection Regional Centers within a month. And then from there, the DILG will go to provincial centers and then city centers.

“The chief of the PNP, Director General Jesus Verzosa and I have placed the establishment of the WCPDs on our priority list of projects for the PNP,” said Puno.

Puno said the PNP should ensure that its WCPDs are functioning in every municipality as “one-stop shops” for the investigation and treatment of victims of child abuse, violence against women and other similar crimes.

Headed by a woman general—Chief Supt. Yolanda Tanigue—the WCPD is directly involved in formulating relevant training programs for police personnel handling cases of women and children and supervises over the strict enforcement of laws and investigations to protect these sectors from all forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

These centers and WCPDs will be headed by, and staffed with, female police officers, Puno said, to provide women and children a more comfortable and relaxed setting when seeking assistance from the police.

Unlike a typical police station, these women- and children-friendly centers will have a more relaxed, “home-like” ambiance, brightly colored walls and even temporary shelters for distraught women and kids.

Puno said the establishment of these Centers is not only in accordance with RA 9262, but also demonstrates the importance that the DILG and PNP have placed on family-related concerns and these institutions’ responsiveness to gender-sensitivity issues.

He said the Centers being set up at the regional levels will follow a program “that will promote and propagate both the consciousness and knowledge of what we need to do to protect our women and children.”

The Women and Children Protection Center in Camp Crame, which is headed by Tanigue has so far established 1,830 WCPDs nationwide staffed with 2,728 female police officers, of whom 1,951 have undergone training on gender sensitivity and the basic investigative skills in handling crimes against women and children.

Among the more prominent cases now being investigated by the WCPD is the complaint filed by the actress Yasmien Kurdi against actor Baron Geisler for acts of lasciviousness, sexual harassment and unjust vexation.