CHILDREN as victims and children as suspects are both on the rise in Bacolod and Iloilo provinces, the Police Regional Office (PRO) in Western Visayas reported.
It said between January to June of 2011 alone, 811 crimes committed by children were already recorded in the two provinces. With this, the PRO expected the 983 cases recorded for the same period in 2010 to be outnumbered.
Of the crimes involving children as suspects, the PRO said theft tops the list, followed by physical injury.
Rape also remains a problem, with 12 cases involving children now recorded.
As to illegal possession of firearms, Iloilo recorded two cases, while Bacolod has six.
Even frustrated and attempted murder and homicide charges have children as suspects, with six in Iloilo and three in Bacolod.
The PRO also released statistics on criminal incidents against children in Western Visayas.
It said of the crimes committed, physical injury and maltreatment top the list.
In Iloilo province, physical injury and maltreatment against children came at 181, a near second to Bacolod City’s 186.
Rape is next highest in Iloilo crimes with minors as victims at 80 incidents, way higher than Bacolod’s 23.
The rest of the statistics recorded 29 child abuse cases; 25 acts of lascivious conduct; 12 threats; seven attempted, frustrated murder and homicide; and four seduction and abduction cases.
In 2010, crimes against children reached 2,695, topped then by Negros Occidental, followed by Iloilo province.
