Documentary on minor offenders called unfair

Cebu City council majority floor leader Jocelyn Pesquera expressed opposition to the continued showing of video documentary "Bunso", saying she wants the United Nations Children's Fund to "cease or make some revisions to the film."

Bunso is said to be a "disturbing documentary about three boys -Tony, Itsoy and Diosel aged 11 to 13- who are detained in a jail along with adult offenders. It is an immersion into the world of the city jail, with many poignant moments from the boys who speak their truth with innocence and street smartness, pain and humor."

UNICEF is said to have produced the video documentary, directed by multi-awarded documentary filmmaker Ditsi Carolino.

"They should stop showing it unless they make necessary revisions because it is so damaging on our part. I am embarrassed. If we have not done anything for children it's fine with me, but the city government has done many things for our children," Pesquera said.

Pesquera found an ally in councilor Edgardo Labella who said that, "reporting was not done in balance. The UNICEF should refrain from showing one side only."

Meanwhile, first lady Margot Osmeña, who heads the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children, also got upset that the video documentary reported there is no agency in the city taking care of children in conflict with the law.

Osmeña said she was upset when she read the article because the film reportedly did not mention the city government's and non-government organizations' efforts to help minor offenders.

She enumerated that the task force already initiated the Annual Summit on Children, that is already on its fourth year, as well as the establishment of a child-friendly school system, child-friendly movement, the establishment of the Operation Second Chance, among others.

Although the documentary did not identify the minors as coming from Cebu City, an article in a news magazine about the film is said to have reported that the children were inmates of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center. - Garry B. Lao