MANILA, Philippines—An official of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC), an attached agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Thursday explained the proper procedures for handling cases involving children in conflict with the law (CICLs).
JJWC Executive Director, Atty. Tricia Clare Oco, said that CICLs would still be accountable for their offenses even after the procedures prescribed under the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 10630 or the “Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act”.
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“Nagkaroon sila ng maling understanding doon sa batas, dahil akala nila yung mga bata walang accountability doon at akala nung mga nang-aabuso na pag ginamit nila yung mga bata, hindi rin sila pwedeng file-an ng criminal case. (They misunderstood the law, because they thought children have no accountability there and those abusers thought that when they used kids, they couldn’t be charged with a criminal case),” Oco said during the DSWD Media Forum on Thursday.
“Ang pagkakaiba lang pag bata ang finile-an mo ng criminal case o kung below 15 siya, iba lang yung proseso pero mayroon pa rin silang accountability,” she added.
(The only difference is, if it’s a child or below 15 [years old] who is involved, the process is quite different but they still have accountability.)
Oco said the law establishes a Comprehensive National Juvenile Intervention Program (CNJIP) which promotes a whole-of-government approach to protect and promote the rights and welfare of CICLs and children-at-risk (CARs).
The JJWC also puts in place a comprehensive and child-sensitive procedure to rehabilitate CICLs under a restorative justice and welfare system.
For children above 12 years old (and 15 years old and below), who committed serious offenses, they will be placed in the Bahay Pag-Asa (BPA) which is managed and operated by local government units (LGUs).
The CICL will undergo an intensive juvenile intervention through the Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (IJISC), a special feature of Bahay Pag-Asa.
For children above 15 but below 18 years old at the time of the commission of the offense, the local Social Welfare and Development Offices (LSWDOs) will assess whether or not the CICL has acted with discernment.
If the child is found to have acted with discernment and the imposable penalty of the offense is more than 12 years of imprisonment, a case may be filed against the child in court. If the penalty is not more than six years of imprisonment, a case may be filed against the child at the police level.
Diversion is an alternative, child-sensitive process of determining the responsibility of the CICL without resorting to formal court proceedings. The procedure can be implemented at the levels of Katarungang Pambarangay, the Police, and the Prosecutor. If the penalty is more than six years but not more than 12 years, the diversion will be at the Court level.
Oco said the efforts of the JJWC to support BPAs through the Support to Bahay Pag-Asa Project, which aims to provide augmentation and assistance to BPA facilities to improve their operational capacity, services, and resources to effectively respond to the needs of admitted CICLs.
She said to date, 115 BPAs are operational with 25 of these already accredited by the DSWD. (PNA)
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