A Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) senior official said 32 children from the Children's Joy Foundation, Inc. (CJFI), a residential center affiliated with the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, are now in DSWD residential care facilities or have been reintegrated into their families due to the foundation’s expired operating license.
During a media forum, DSWD Assistant Secretary for Standards and Capacity Building Group Janet Armas said the CJFI’s Certificate of Registration and License to Operate (CRLTO) has expired for its five facilities in Central Luzon (Region 3), Calabarzon (Region 4-A), Central Visayas (Region 7), Davao Region (Region 11), and the National Capital Region (NCR).
Of the 32 children, 13 are under the custody of the DSWD and Social Welfare and Development Agencies (SWDAs), while 14 have returned with their families, Armas said.
The remaining five are either in foster care or preparing for independent living, she added.
Armas explained that the evaluation of the five CJFI centers was prompted by a Senate directive for the DSWD to review all SWDAs associated with the KOJC to ensure the welfare of children, in light of allegations of child abuse and human trafficking against KOJC founder Apollo Quiboloy.
DSWD found that CJFI did not meet the requirements for renewing its CRLTO.
Armas said the care facility had been informed that its application would remain on hold until it could demonstrate its financial capacity to sustain operations.
However, she assured that the monitoring revealed no signs of abuse in the five centers registered with the DSWD.