'Crime syndicates recruiting minors'

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) warned the public yesterday that criminal syndicates are recruiting minors to stage crimes such as robberies, then killing them once they have served their purpose.

The QCPD issued the warning after the bodies of three boys, aged 14 to 15 years old, were found dumped in Barangay Commonwealth last week. Police investigators believe the children were offered money for various “tasks,” not knowing they would later be “silenced” for knowing too much.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Elenzano, chief of the Homicide Division of the Quezon City Police District–Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), said investigators are looking into a possible link between the killings and a shootout between police and three suspected criminals last Friday.

He said the slain teenagers could have been recruited as members of the Waray Waray group, which also operates in Samar province.

 “We’re trying to establish the identity of other members of the group and are closely monitoring the process of recruitment of minors in depressed areas,” Elenzano told The STAR, noting that Barangays Commonwealth, Holy Spirit, Batasan Hills, and Payatas are among the QCPD’s areas of concern.

He said they believe “this is a big group” since one of the suspects killed in the shootout used a gun that once belonged to Police Officer 3 Antonio Ataylar, who was killed in a bus robbery last Nov. 14 in Samar.

Elenzano said crime syndicates have turned to recruiting minors because they are easier to corrupt, are free from criminal liability “under our laws” since they are minors.

“It is also easier to use them in burglarizing houses and stealing cars (for example) because they do not raise suspicion since they are children,” he said.

Republic Act 9344, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, exempts children 15 years old and under from criminal liability.

The suspects killed in last Friday’s gunbattle along Commonwealth Avenue have yet to be identified but two of their alleged cohorts still at large - Ador Siguin, 26, a native of Samar and a Bahala na Gang member, and a certain Benjie – will be charged with multiple murder.

A day before the encounter, police found the body of Efren Cabacungan, 15, while the bodies his two friends, Vincent Mahilon, 14, and Albino Crisostomo, 15, were found stuffed in sacks and dumped in a vacant lot on Friday.

Elenzano urged parents to seek the assistance of barangay officials or the police if their sons have been acting suspiciously or have gone missing for days.

He said police are coordinating with community leaders to dig deeper into how minors are being recruited by criminal groups.