I WORKED with CSWD (City Social Welfare and Development) as social worker/street educator and, for more than 10 years, was exposed in the urban jungle of street life where children at very young age were committing habitual crimes. I handled cases of street children, juvenile delinquents and helped managed cases of children-in-conflict-with-the-law.
These children started small time from pick pocketing, vandalizing, to theft and robbery. Most of these children committed crimes, either because they were forced by adults or just to survive. They are victims of circumstances. As minors, they have the right to protection. Thus, in the old system they go through a juvenile justice system when they are apprehended. They don't go to jail.
Instead, they go to the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youths (RRCY), managed by DSWD or Tahanan Ng Kabataan, managed by the LGU or they can be turned over to foster parents or a responsible community resident for temporary custody pending court decision on their cases upon reaching the age of 18. They are provided with services and a chance to be reformed and be reintegrated back to the community. They are not treated like adult criminals. Instead, they are treated as children in conflict with the law.
But time is changing. Children below 15 are now committing crimes. Crimes are leveling up to serious offenses such as rape, gang rape, murder, homicide, and drug peddling to name some.
Recently, lawyer Carlo Ybanez shared a case of a 14-year-old girl gang- raped by three 14-year-old boys. Another lawyer, Charissa Kay, had a case where a nine-year-old girl was gang-raped by three nine-year-old boys, her neighbors.
So, is it okay if they escaped liabilities even if they acted with discernment? What if the victim is your child?
A child, if not corrected at a young age will become an abuser. I remember a classic case we had in CDO with a minor girl, abandoned at a very young age, used by adults to do "akyat-bahay," peddled stolen items, used and peddled solvents and was prostituted. She was below 15 years old then but a hard core street girl already. She was actually handled by an adult to be the "Ate" or "Manay" in the streets, handling the smaller girls to make money and remit to the handler. When she got pregnant, she tried to sell her baby to a childless couple.
This is absolutely not okay. Or else, they will become child monsters like the Ateneo bully.
All of us are responsible for what is happening to our children because we allow the proliferation of drugs, pornography, violent video/internet games, easy access to social media, absentee parents/OFW, unfit young parents, and people confusing the public without knowing the real score.
I can see the merits of this Bill. Notably, Sec. 20. D, which states that "failure of parents to undergo mandatory interventions, unless prevented by a lawful cause, shall be a ground for imprisonment for at least 30 days to 6 months." Because what these children become would always go back to the parents and to parenting.
To Risa Honteviros and others, why don't you visit the centers and the urban streets at midnight to dawn where you can see the harsh realities of our children? Maybe you can propose a bill to increase the budget of DSWD so the mandatory establishment of Bahay Pag-asa and Agricultural Center will be fully established. Also, you can propose a bill to create more positions for Registered Social Workers as they are crucial to the preventive and rehabilitative management of this child issue.
It is our responsibility to protect innocent children likewise it is our responsibility to reform minor offenders. (Beth Conde Acera, social worker)