By CARLOS H. CONDE
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published: December 2002
Second of two parts
DAVAO CITY — In 2000 and 2001, Davao City was adjudged the country’s “Most Child-Friendly City†by the National Council for the Welfare of Children, a government body under the Office of the President.
This year, however, Davao failed to get the recognition because of what local officials here have dismissed as negative noises coming from child-rights groups.
The NGOs retort that they had found it ironic that a city that tolerates the killing of minors as part of a brutal campaign against crime would be considered “child-friendly†at all.
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Posted on December 10, 2003, and filed under Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Stories |
By CARLOS H. CONDE
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Published: December 2002
First of two parts
DAVAO CITY — In one of the many hovels crammed inside Bankerohan, this city’s largest public market, Christmas is about to come and go unnoticed once more. While the Alia family is no stranger to a joyless Christmas, this year’s yuletide has been exceptionally sad. The family is still mourning the death of yet another Alia child, who last month was added to a growing list of teenagers sacrificed in a brutal war against crime.
Clarita Alia, who hauls vegetables in a tiny cart for a living, used to have eight children. Now she has only five. She lost her second child Richard in July 2001. Three months later, it was Christopher’s turn. Next was Bobby, who died just this November.
Richard was only 18 when he was killed, while Christopher was 16, and Bobby, 14. All three were knifed to death, and while authorities have done little to investigate their cases, practically everyone assumes their deaths were part of the extra-judicial killings that have been plaguing Davao City in the last few years.
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Posted on December 10, 2002, and filed under Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Stories |
