Councilor proposes ban on foreigners accompanying children

THE city government is strengthening its fight against child trafficking as a city councilor has proposed that foreigners must not be allowed to accompany a child not his or her relative. In her proposal, Councilor Avegayle Ortiz-Omalza, also the chair of the city council committee on women, said the proposed law will try “to protect children from sexual predators and prostitution.” “It is absolutely prohibited for a foreigner or group of foreigners to be seen or to be in the company of a Filipino minor child or children when such child or children are also accompanied by a Filipino adult,” said the proposal, which also stipulated that a foreigner can only accompany a child if the latter is a relative up to the fourth degree of consanguinity. The proposal, if approved, will also punish up to six months in jail “any Filipino who knowingly places any child or children in the company of the foreigner without him accompanying such Filipino child or children.” — Carmelito Q. Francisco