THE City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) is reporting a concerning rise in the rape and child abuse statistics of Baguio City.
Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong said according to the CSWDO, 15 rape incidents have been reported in the city throughout the year thus far.
The number is triple that of the past year, which only saw 5 such incidents reported.
The increase in rape cases also coincides with a recorded increase in reported child abuse cases in the city.
According to Betty Fangasan, officer of CSWDO, 76 cases of child abuse were recorded in the city for the entire year of 2020.
However, within only the first six months of the year, the city has already seen 71 cases of child abuse to date.
52 cases involved females and 19 for males. Some 20 cases have also been reported to involve molestation, while 18 cases were of physical abuse.
To arrest the increase in both rape and child abuse, Fangasan said that the CSWDO is working on improving and mobilizing the monitoring and reporting systems of the city, especially at the barangay level.
“We appeal to the public to be vigilant in spotting child abuse cases in their neighborhood and in reporting them at once to the concerned authorities so that appropriate actions can be undertaken,” she said.
