WHAT IS in Manay, Davao Oriental, that lately it has been the favorite whipping place of earthquakes? On Jan. 7, shortly before noon, the municipality was shaken by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. Only late last year, the same town also suffered considerable damage in terms of collapsed residential and business structures. Some government infrastructures, like hospitals and school buildings, also suffered damage.
Even before the town could be back on its feet, another temblor with Manay as the nearest to the epicenter again occurred. As we go to press, there was no report of how far-reaching the destruction was. But clearly, with a 6.7 magnitude tremor hitting a still shaky ground in Manay, the likelihood is that the possibly fledgling ground of the municipality could easily collapse, and the just rising residences and other structures, including the ones identified as belonging to the government, could again be destroyed even more.
It was a good thing that the earthquake felt in the nearby municipalities and cities was far from the so-called destructive range. In our home in a rural barangay in Tugbok District, we could hardly feel the magnitude.
The only indication that an earthquake was in progress was the chandelier in our living room. It took a while for the chandelier to stop swaying slightly. We also heard the shouts of high school and elementary school students while running out of their classrooms and going directly toward the stairs.
We could only thank the heavens for not allowing harm to any of the students crowding the stairs of two 4-story school buildings.
As of the writing of this piece, the appropriate government authorities in the Davao Region have not given the public the status of the earthquake damage – estimated or actual – if there was any.
************************************
So the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) is launching a program aimed at reducing the risk of more sexual violence among women, especially those of young ages, in the Indigenous Peoples’ communities?
Why a new program when, based on the police record, there is a decline in rape cases by 31 percent as of the close of the year immediately preceding?
In explaining the launching of Oplan Neneng, where the intervention to be done by the police is to provide “adequate and proper rooms” to houses of tribal families, it is understood that rapes happened inside IP homes.
According to the explanation given during a Department Heads meeting of the local government, the provision of adequate and proper rooms in IP family houses “will enhance the privacy and security for the vulnerable girls.”
How else should such a statement be taken to mean? It is no brainer to interpret that the sexual predators are either fellow house occupants – possibly a relative – or those with unsuspiciously easy access to the potential rape victims.
But what does Acting Police Director Col. Mannan Muarip mean when he said that the new program “will be financially supported and implemented in close coordination with the city government”? Is it the city government that will provide the funds to procure the construction materials for the installation of “adequate and proper rooms” for IP families’ residences?
Honestly, we believe that Oplan Neneng is a very laudable program of the DCPO. But we are a bit intrigued by the sector that is targeted in the program implementation – the young girls in the IP communities.
Why are the rape cases reported coming from the tribal community with young girls as victims? It is our take that there were also rape cases with urban and suburban women as victims. So the possibility is that the victims themselves or their families feel extremely ashamed of their fate. They better be encouraged by the current police leadership in the city to report the crime if these urban and suburban women victims are to get the justice due to them.
We can only hope that the good Colonel will get the all-out support of the officials of the city in order for the DCPO Oplan Neneng to be effective as envisioned.
