Sun Star Philippines

February 4, 2023
Dealing With Minors
By: Publio Briones III

I just read that three minors were caught inhaling shabu inside a drug den in
Barangay Apas, Cebu City last Thursday night, Feb. 2, 2023.

The article actually states that they sniffed the shabu, but I doubt that’s how
you use that particular drug. Don’t ask me how I know, just trust me.

Anyway, I was looking for one particular word in the article that journalists
have been using in the last decade when dealing with such situations. And I
was glad that I didn’t find it.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the word is “rescue.”

Before I start ranting and raving on the subject, I had this feeling that I had
written about it in the past. So I googled it. And lo and behold, I did.

In November 2014, back when no one would ever mistake me for a senior, I
set on a tirade about its use.

I remember asking the reporter who started the trend. The police, he said.

Well, a lot has happened since then. And attitudes have changed.

I think the public and authorities have realized that using the word “rescue”
instead of “arrest” when dealing with minors does not change the fact that
they continue and will continue to engage in illegal activities.

I am not here to judge. I am just stating a fact.I hate to break it gently to the
naïve and the cloistered, but minors commit crimes. They steal. They rob.
They kill.

Some by choice. Some because they are forced by circumstance.

It’s hardly fair to compare them and treat them like adults but some of these
minors have been forced to grow up quickly and become hardened criminals.

And then there are those who feel entitled because of their age.

The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has had its hands full with their lot since
the Christmas holiday.

Recently, Col. Ireneo Dalogdog, CCPO director, issued a warning that anyone
caught causing trouble in public will be arrested and charged with alarm and
scandal.

He didn’t mince words this time.

He has had enough. I have had enough. I think everyone else feels the same.

I think it is about time that these unruly youths are taught that there are
consequences to their actions. That if they commit adult crimes or acts that
are associated with adults, then they will be dealt with like adults.

How else will they learn the difference between right and wrong?

Read here: https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1952580/cebu/opinion/briones-

dealing-with-minors

Subject: Puberty, Adulthood