The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday will continue to look into alleged cases of violence against women and children even during this period of quarantine, as the police cited almost 3,700 cases.
Citing PNP data, President Rodrigo Duterte’s 11th weekly report to Congress cited that nearly 3,700 cases of violence against women and children have been recorded by the police since the implementation of community quarantine in March.
But according to Deputy Chief for Operations Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, reported incidents of violence against women and children in this quarantine period were actually lower compared to those recorded in the same period of last year.
Eleazar obtained the information from Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) chief Police Brigadier General Alessandro Abella.
“Itong huling tatlong buwan na ito, kung ikukumpara sa tatlong buwan noong nakaraang taon ay bumaba pa nga ‘yung mga incidents of violence against women and children. Pero kinaqualify din niya na posibleng hindi naireport sa atin dahil nga sa nakalockdown tayo,” Eleazar said in a Dobol B sa News TV report.
Eleazar, however, did not specify the data during the radio interview.
“Kung titingnan natin based on record, hindi naman po siya tumaas pero malalaman po natin ‘yan kung may late reporting. Gusto natin icheck ‘yan ‘yung huling tatlong buwan bago tayo pumasok sa quarantine, so we can say that speculation din naman dahil wala tayong data…” he said.
In Duterte’s report, it was stated that as of June 4, the PNP had recorded a total of 1,945 cases of violence against women and 1,754 cases of violence against children.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has expressed hope that the number of incidents will go down following the easing of quarantine restrictions./Stacy Ang
