Children in conflict with the law

August 6, 2008 - Comment and Opinion

Children in conflict with the law

Not too many public officials and employees in the different agencies of government
5 are sufficiently enlightened on a law that has been erected some three years ago, or –
Republic Act 9344 – also known as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act.

Beyond the legalese, there ought to be a simpler way at understanding how the law
operates in the case of so-called ‘children in conflict with the law’ – a term which the
UNICEF defines as referring to “anyone under 18 who comes into contact with the
10 justice system as a result of being suspected or accused of committing an offense”.
Data indicate that the crimes most children in conflict with the law commit – from that
given world view – are vagrancy, truancy, begging or alcohol use. These are actually
‘status offenses’ that are not deemed criminal when committed by adults.

For every new law erected, it is not far removed that its implementation is always
15 found wanting especially in the case of RA 9344. There will always be the problem of
the source of funds to effectively implement the letter and intent of a well-meaning
law of much consequence – in the moral, social, and economic sphere.

For instance, it is said that there are authorized sources of funds to implement this
piece of landmark legislation. First, one percent (1%) of IRA (Internal Revenue
20 Allotment) from the barangays shall be allocated for the purpose. Second, there will
be an equal counterpart sharing from the LGU, provincial government, and from the
national government – each at 1/3 share of the financial burden to subsidize its
effective implementation.

It is of uncertain validity whether or not all cities or municipalities have, at this point in
25 time, already set aside budgetary requirements to put the law in motion. It follows
that where cities or municipalities fail to provide its due share, provincial governments
as well as the national government cannot fill the financial void. All spokes should be
fit in place before the wheel can turn full circle.

Officers of courts and even prosecutors have some misgivings on the manner
30 diversion programs, as enshrined in the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, are
undertaken as even the initial matter of child custody always presents itself as a
problem. Is it the custodial action of the PNP or of the DSWD? Are there Processing
Centers and again, Rehabilitation Centers that operate on a 24-hour basis sufficiently
manned by social workers? Truly, an orientation or a re-orientation seminar/workshop
35 has to be designed from time to time in order to properly educate members of the
PNP, social workers from the DSWD, officials from the barangays, or the LGUs so that
going about the rather holistic approach to dealing with children in conflict with the
 law will at least be in accordance with the very conceptual framework upon which the
law is built.

40 But even in barangays prepared enough to provide the facility and services find
difficulty in the law such as that observation of instances that the same child is taken
in custody for status offenses any given number of times. This means that the law can
be subjected to abuse by children below 18. There seems to have evolved a pattern
that the law has been taken advantage of. That aspect of children being exempted
45 from criminal liability, albeit, not of civil liability, when they are below 18 years of age
when they committed such status offense – seems to translate into a license to
commit all other possible offenses or crimes.

In a larger sense, there can be a problem of economies of scale. If each barangay

envisions to have its own facility, its own program, its own pool of social workers and
50 local PNP to effectively implement the law in coordination with the DOJ, then over
decentralization will be, by and large, financially hemorrhagic. On the other hand, to
so much as allow too much of private sector participation via civic-oriented NGOs
should read as a chronic failure to take the lead in a supposed-to-be government-
sponsored project.

55 Ironically, it spells RP’s commitment to the international community as signatory to

the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). It seems hypocritical vis a vis
prevailing situation in most jails that are characterized as crowded, lacking in basic
amenities, low in food subsidy, inaccessibility to immediate medical care, limitation of
free legal aid from the Public Attorney’s Office and all those sort of stuff.

60 Until perhaps we have perfected the situations in most jails or prison cells as
significantly improved in terms of its humane aspect and not that humiliating as they
presently are; until inmates are provided their right to medical care than just be left
unattended to their deaths; and until the wheels of justice run a little faster than it
does since time immemorial – then, and only then, can we hope to achieve a level of
65 satisfaction in treating children in conflict with the law in the manner that the more
developed societies have envisioned the global advocacy to be.

At this point, all appropriate juvenile justice mechanisms have yet to be put in place
and we have strong doubts that the PNP and the social workers of the DSWD have
already strengthened their linkages or tie-ups together with the family courts or
70 regular courts to this end. From where I stand, it is clear that much is left to be desired
for us to perform at par with international standards. We hate to think that RA 9344 is
reduced to a dead-letter law.

Lawmakers, must have, in the end, failed to look at the statistical fact that even if we
can have the best approaches to promote this global advocacy, still we would have
75 failed unless of course we must likewise subscribe to population control. There will be
 more cases of children in conflict wit the law on account of their increasing population.
In other words, the problem might just be purely mathematical that all constructive
approaches to promote the child’s sense of dignity will only go for naught. We have
yet to be a welfare state, matter-of-factly, and we surely are several notches below
80 the bar.

PRIMER C. PAGUNURAN
UP Diliman, Quezon City Email: nielsky_2003@yahoo.com Cellphone: 09164985265

Share this: