Bohol needs “help” for kids in armed conflicts

ACCORDING to a recent research conducted by the diocesan church-based Social Action Center (SAC), Bohol still needs particular help solely directed to monitoring children in armed conflict (CIAC) to be able to address the issues and concerns on this field. To date, there is no civil society group or a non-government organization focusing its support to children actively involved in armed conflicts following their recruitment, says Dennis Calunia during a presentation held at the Capitol recently.

Following reports of minors actively recruited to serve either as active armed combatants or running a variety of errands to keeping communication lines, SAC, with technical and little government financial assistance ran a research to assess cases in Bohol. Said to be considered an international war crime, recruitment and children's involvement in armed conflict in the country has so far not been focused in the absence of a particular law, shares Marco Puzon. Puzon is the project coordinator of the program that implements in the country's 8 provinces including Bohol its monitoring activities of children recruited in the armed struggle.

In Bohol , Puzon's group partnered with SAC for the research that started in February this year. Cognizant of its limitations in area of operation only within the Diocese of Tagbilaran and with the undocumented and unreported cases, SAC Tagbilaran still went to al least 6 towns here. Despite the largely secretive operations, SAC was able to document at least three cases of demobilized minors in armed conflict and recruited by the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The minors, whose ages range from 14-17 have recently rejoined the mainstream, leaving the war and have mostly been sent out to live with relatives outside Bohol for fear of being hunted down by comrades. Pressing for possible help in terms of psychological sessions and rehabilitations to effectively allow these children to rejoin society, SAC calls for funding institutions to help them in their project to address the concern. “There has been no specific and unique program [to help the children in armed conflict] here in Bohol ,” Calunia told the gathering mostly attended by members of the Provincial Peace and Order Council.

In reaction to the research findings, Canadian Embassy Secretary Frances Tanner, who was present during the presentation raised Bohol's hopes of tying up with Canadian International Development Agency for a specific project focused on children in similar situations to facilitate their rejoining the mainstream while at the same time come up with definitive date on the extent of recruitment of children in conflicts here. If CIDA plans do not miscarry, Bohol again could be in the forefronts of peace advocacy when it could implement similar program to help build nation.

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