“Punishment is not the answer. Proper intervention is needed to guide children towards reason.”
By Elisha Beatrice Umali
Children and youth rights advocates called for the proper implementation and reforms of the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act (JJWA) at a roundtable discussion led by Salinlahi Alliance of Children’s Concerns and Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) on June 29.
The groups denounced the proposed lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in the wake of the June 22 Tacloban school shooting committed by two minors.
Celine Cadag of Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) said that this approach will only add to social exclusion and inequality of the children.
“Punishment is not the answer. Proper intervention is needed to guide children towards reason. Their behavior may be a mirror of the environment they grew up in, which is greatly influenced by older people,” said Snap Mabanta of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP).
Kalista Cruz from UP Children’s Rights and Advocates League (UP CRADLE) said that “We cannot separate children from their environments because the environment’s context is intersectional with a child’s behavior. We should aim for holistic development.”
UP CRADLE’s Joaquin Valencia also added that the spike in violence within schools is also influenced by media exposure, environmental realities and the normalization of violence.
“If children are exposed to violence, corruption and robbery, we move them into this character. Violence is inevitable when the state itself promotes lowering the age of responsibility. It is the accountability of the state,” stressed Norma Dollaga of the Kapatiran ng Simbahan para sa Bayan (Kasimbayan) and Rise Up for Life and for Rights.
Militarization of communities, schools
UP CRADLE said that students become more fearful when seeing armed officials. “It also becomes a hurdle in their studies. Instead of having fun, students ponder on the presence of weapons, policemen, or military in their schools.”
“There’s a Chinese study stating the importance of social workers in schools to make said schools proactive and preventive… Why would they deploy the PNP, instead of social workers, in schools?” asked Carney Erica Pamuntag, a social worker for the Asuncion A. Perez Memorial Center Inc.
Representatives of the Young Marikina Artists Collective (YMAC) stressed that military presence in demolition areas in Marikina “only fosters fear, instead of addressing the roots of poverty.”
Karapatan NCR condemned the 12th Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion’s Community Support Program in the area. “Similar civil-military operations have long been criticized by human rights groups for blurring the line between civilian governance and military functions,” stated Karapatan.
“Instead of providing in-city relocation for the residents, they now face the operation of the 12th Civil Military Operations of the NCR Command of the AFP,” stated GWP in Filipino.
Popularize JJWA, monitor implementation
“Personally, we need to popularize JJWA because it’s complicated and people only focus on the section regarding no criminal liability,” said Atty. Gian Arabejo of the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC).
He pushed for a monitoring body for barangay-level intervention programs for children in conflict with the law (CICL).
CLRDC found out that not all barangays have diversion ordinances while funds allocated for said ordinances are misused.
“Many are not trained [in implementing] the JJWA. Others say, let’s just create separate prisons for kids, but there is already Bahay Pag-asa under the DSWD, youth rehabilitation centers and youth detention homes,” Arabejo said.
According to the amended JJWA, Bahay Pag-asa centers are accredited child care institutions providing “short-term residential care for children in conflict with the law who are above fifteen (15) but below eighteen (18) years of age, and who are awaiting court disposition.”
Nationwide, there are only 114 operational Bahay Pag-asa centers as of December 2023, as per the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council website.
“We need to explain restorative justice, as the narrative of ‘what about the victim’ is loud, but many people are unaware of intervention, diversion, and the existence of Bahay Pag-asa,” he said. (RTS, DAA)
View the unity statement of the roundtable discussion participants here.
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