EDITORIAL — A shared responsibility

Tragedy was caught on camera last Monday after a young boy was crushed by metal railings in the Pasil Fish Port in Barangay Suba, Cebu City.

The video shows four-year-old Crismark Sandoval standing alone near the railings which he appears to grab and hang on to. His light weight is enough to send the railings crashing down on him, pinning him and fracturing his skull.

He was less than a month shy of his fifth birthday.

As much as we hate to point fingers as to who was responsible for the death, it has to be said that we see three parties with about equal degrees of culpability in this incident.

First are the parents or guardians of the four-year-old. What was he doing outside unattended? We understand that children should be granted increasing degrees of independence as they grow up; it is actually good for them. But allowing a four-year-old to be out in the street is taking a big risk. Children of that age aren’t yet fully aware of the dangers and hazards around them.

Second is the community. We Filipinos are known for looking out for each other and it’s not unusual for any of us warn our neighbor’s kids of impending danger, keep an eye out for them when they are at play outside, or even report to the parents of a certain child what he or she has been doing or where they have been.

However, in this case it seems there weren’t enough watchful eyes on the boy to keep him away from harm.

Third is the local government unit. Why were those rails put there? Why were they positioned in such a way that constituted a hazard to people?

We aren’t calling for charges here, although we surmise that the family of the boy might have probable cause to do so against the LGU.

Like we always say, even the most tragic of events can become teachable moments. Hopefully, we will all learn something from this incident.