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Inclusion of Commonwealth in Amber Alert Program pushed
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Posted on Jul 31 2011
Rep. Teresita Santos (Ind-Rota) pre-filed a resolution urging Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan to include the CNMI in the Amber Alert Program which Santos said will be a big help when there are cases of child abduction including the disappearance of sisters Faloma and Maleina Luhk since May 25.
The Amber Alert Program, named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters, and transportation agencies to activate an urgent bulletin in serious child-abduction cases.
It works by instantly galvanizing the entire community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of children.
Santos said the CNMI must be able to avail of the Amber Alert National Training and Technical Assistance Program to, among other things, increase and improve law enforcement response to missing, endangered and abducted children.
She said such training will also help increase the recovery rate of abducted children, create greater community capacity in understanding broader issues related to exploitation and abuse of children, and enhance public participation in the recovery of such children.
“The CNMI can be a part of the uniform, interoperable network of plans across the country to help minimize potentially deadly delays due to confusion among varying jurisdictions,” Santos said.
It was also Santos who introduced a bill in June requiring schools to immediately notify the parents or legal guardians of absent students instead of waiting for the second or third day of absence to help speed up rescue efforts for missing children.
In May, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said he would initiate steps to include the CNMI in the Amber Alert Program.
At that time, Fitial said the delegate should work to include the CNMI in the Amber Alert Program which he said is like other national programs which still exclude the CNMI.
Fitial said that while Sablan should be the one to be working on this matter, the governor said he will initiate the request to make it happen.
