31 kids rescued thru Kean Gabriel Hotline

The City Social Welfare and Development Office, through the Kean Gabriel Hotline, has rescued a total of 31 abused children from January to March this year.

Of the hotline’s 31 rescue operations, 19 were cases of physical abuse while 12 were sexual abuse.

In 2022, the hotline rescued 131 children- 72 of them were physically abused.

Kean Gabriel Quick Response Team for Children’s Concerns Center Head Jackie Lou Roble, during the I-Speak Media Conference on Thursday, said physical abuse cases remain the top reason for calls they received since the hotline was created in 2016. This is followed by cases of neglect, custody dispute, and sexual abuse.

“The Kean Gabriel Hotline automatically mu-dispatch kauban atoang mga kapulisan from that area to respond sa nadawat na calls. After validation, we will rescue the child and ibutang nato sa quick response team shelter as a temporary shelter. Within two weeks, atong i-process ang iyahang documents para mabutang nato siya sa other centers kung asa siya ha-om (The Kean Gabriel Hotline will automatically dispatch our police officers from that area to respond to calls received. After validation, we will rescue the child and put them in the quick response team shelter as a temporary shelter. Within two weeks, we will process their documents so that we can place them in other centers most suitable for them),” Roble said.

Upon rescue, an evaluation of the victim’s family circumstances and an intensive evaluation of threats to their well-being are conducted to determine the best and safest course of action for the child.

Roble said the Kean Gabriel program has rescued children as young as 8-months from physically abusive parents. She said that although there have been no recorded cases of child abuse fatalities in the past several years, child abuse remains a major concern in the social welfare sector.

On average, the Kean Gabriel Hotline receives around 100 calls daily. A number of these calls are not only from Davao City but also from neighboring regions, and even several from the National Capital Region.

“Actually, ang atoang Davao City hotline dili lang ta maka-receive og call within Davao City even sa atoang neighboring municipalities. As far as Cavite, naka-receive na pud mi og call (Actually, our hotline in Davao City is not only able to receive calls within Davao City even in the neighboring municipalities. As far as Cavite, we have received a call),” Roble said

But Roble admitted that most of these are prank calls.

“So far, based on our data, ang call na ma-receive namo within a day at least naa miy 100 calls. Pero out of those 100 calls, 25 per cent lang po ang legit, ang uban kay prank calls (So far, based on our data, we receive at least 100 calls in a day. But out of those 100 calls, only 25 percent are legit, the others are prank calls),” she said.

Roble urged citizens to look for signs of possible abuse in children and to report them to the Kean Gabriel Hotline. She also urged citizens to refrain from making prank calls so as not to waste valuable time and resources.

Kean Gabriel Hotline: 0908-818-4444