Erring children maltreated by orphanage staff, Senate told

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SENATORS were told yesterday that an employee of the Gentle Hands Inc. (GHI) orphanage, which was ordered closed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, has allegedly been hurting children each time they violate the center’s rules.

Undersecretary Janella Estrada, of the National Authority for Childcare, said the children were allegedly physically hurt by a certain “Kuya Eddie,” one of the “house parents” for orphan boys staying at the GHI, when orphanage owner Charity Graff could not handle the children herself.

Estrada showed a two-minute video clip, with the children’s faces blurred, as proof of the allegations before the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality which is looking into the cease-and-desist order issued by the DSWD against the GHI last May due to safety issues.

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Estrada said the video was shot only last Wednesday when staff members of the DSWD interacted with the children who are now staying at the Nayon ng Kabataan in Mandaluyong City.

In the video, the children alleged that Kuya Eddie punched some of them when they are being “makulit” or naughty, while other children were hit with a rubber sandals or wooden stick, and still others were slapped.

“Kapag hindi kaya ni Ma’am Charity, nagsususbong siya kay Kuya Eddie. Kapag wala sa mood si Kuya Eddie, pumupunta siya (kung) sino ang sinumbong, sasaktan niya (When Ma’am Charity could not handle the situation, he will report us to Kuya Eddie. When he is not in the mood, Kuya Eddie will approach whoever was reported to him and hurt that person),” an orphan said.

One child recalled that if their rooms were messy, Kuya Eddie hits them with a wooden stick.

The children also said the older boys were mostly at the receiving end of Kuya Eddie’s punishments.

They said Graff knew what Kuya Eddie was maltreating them.

One of the legal counsel of GHI said she only knows of two instances when Kuya Eddie “punished” the orphans.

“I know of two incidents where the boys got into a scuffle and they hurt each other so badly that they were punished by Kuya Eddie, but only a spank on the butt,” she told the committee.

She said that was the first time she heard that Kuya Eddie inflicted physical harm on the orphans on orders of Graff.

“Listening to it now, I have to confront Kuya Eddie himself and ask him if this is true because if this is true, this is something that could not be tolerated… Because the cases we actually prosecute were actually for abuses done to these children,” she said.

“I am sure that Charity (Graff) is not aware of this kind of behavior because the two incidents that I am mentioning, immediately after it happened, I was informed about it by Miss Charity and I told her that what Kuya Eddie is doing is not allowed. So, he has to stop right there and then,” she added.

She also said the children accusing Graff and Kuya Eddie of maltreating them appear to have been coached since the other children supposedly already want to go back to GHI.

To prove her point, the legal counsel presented an audio recording of the orphans staying at the Nayon ng Kabataan, when GHI visited them last May 27.

“They are trying to make stories so we cannot go back in Gentle Hands,” an orphan supposedly said.

Another orphan said they were “forced” to say that “ma’am” was hurting them. The orphan did not identify who was allegedly forcing them to make the allegation against Graff.

Another orphan supposedly told her that “We feel like they are trying to make stories so we don’t go home. Atty. Tina (Balajadia), they are asking it over and over. And they keep saying it ‘Does ma’am hurt you?’ And we say no. They’re gonna say it like 10 times. And we keep saying, we like mom, she’s nice. We want to go back where we are supposed to be.”

Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, committee chairperson, said corporal punishment is strictly prohibited “in all settings” including childcare agencies.

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