Pedophiles Abuse Children while Court of Appeals Sleeps Shay Cullen 22 October 2021
The recent decision of the Department of Education (DepEd) to dismiss for Grave Misconduct from the teaching profession Franco N. Aranas, a teacher in New Cabalan High School, Olongapo City should have been a swift decision to protect children and see justice done. However, it has taken almost three years before the decision was made to dismiss the abusive teacher who sexually abused his students. Yet this teacher, Franco N. Aranas, while found guilty for Grave Misconduct by the DepEd’s Regional Director, May B. Eclar, can continue teaching in the same school until the dismissal from service is confirmed by Secretary Leonor Briones of the DepEd. We earnestly hope that Secretary Briones acts speedily to confirm the decision of the Regional Director to protect children and see justice is done. The DepEd must not harbor a child abuser among its ranks.
What is wrong with the system where it is clear justice delayed is justice denied, a system that favors the sex abusers and ignores traumatized children? It casts a dark shadow over the institutions. The teacher was accused of sexually abusing three minor students, one 14 and two 15 respectively, in the Sunshine Lodge near the Victory Liner station in Olongapo City on two separate occasions in June and August 2018. This place ought to be investigated for enabling human trafficking and child abuse, violations of law.
Children are the Most Important of All- Jesus | by Fr. Shay Cullen 10 October 2021
The attention of most adults is primarily focused on what they consider to be the most important reality in the world- themselves, especially many clerics. Yet there is one overriding unassailable truth that stands above all else in the teaching of the founder of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth.
The truth that 2.382 billion Christians, including 1.329 billion Roman Catholics, have supposedly bound themselves to accept and obey is that children are the most important in the Kingdom of God. To accept, recognize and affirm a child with that exalted status and dignity is to accept Jesus himself.
Can President Duterte Make the ISPs Obey the Law? Fr. Shay Cullen 15 January 2021
The massive increase in child sexual abuse videos and images transmitted online over the internet passing through the servers of the Internet service providers (ISPs)- Globe Telecom and PLDT /Smart- has increased from 19,000 in 2019 to 47,937 in 2020 as the result of the lockdown. This is according to the Philippine government Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles speaking for President Rodrigo Duterte.
The child pornography and on-line live streaming of sex acts on Filipino children are continuous horrific heinous crimes as some victims are as young as three years old, among the many thousands sexually abused.
The ISPs and telecommunication corporations have ignored the provision of the 2009 Anti-Child Pornography Law or Republic Act 7995, specifically Section 9 that this writer helped draft and lobbied for strict implementation ever since as published in The Manila Times (The Sunday Times) on many occasions.
No less than President Rodrigo Duterte and his cabinet, in a joint meeting, have issued an order to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to slap sanctions on the telecommunications corporations for non-compliance with the law. This writer has called for penalties against the ISPs and recommended one million pesos a day sanction on each ISP until they show proof that they are complying with the law. Presently, they allegedly escape compliance and agree to pay a small fine rather than obey the law and install blocking software to intercept the child pornography and report it to the authorities as the law demands.
These are the most powerful corporations in the Philippines, not only for financial power, but technological power. They can defy even the government of President Duterte as they are doing at present. In an instant, they can paralyze the nation by cutting off Internet connections and crippling the social media upon which millions depend including the government and the entire economy. We will now campaign through non-government organizations in other countries to pressure their telecommunication corporations to reconsider their partnership with Philippine ISPs Globe Telecom and PLDT/Smart that are non-compliant with Section 9 of RA 9775.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, speaking for President Rodrigo Duterte said as quoted in the media, “All ISPs should also install available technology, program or software to ensure that access to or transmittal of any form of child pornography will be blocked or filtered, according to the law.” That is a powerful order for them to comply. But will they do it?
Who is top dog in this stand-off, which is the most powerful, President Rodrigo Duterte or the presidents and board members of the telecommunications corporations? Will President Duterte and his cabinet really stand strong and compel the ISPs to comply and install and monitor the blocking software?
The ISPs don’t want to do this as they fear losing hundreds of thousands of customers. What kind of evil business is it that is making money by allowing child abusers here and abroad access child pornography and allow child sexual abuse to live-stream through their servers? The arrogance of power knows no limit and the corporations have this kind of power. The software is easily available. Microsoft is just one corporation that can do it effectively using PhotoDNA and VideoDNA technology.
There is a growing movement to repeal section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of the USA that allows the ISPs NOT to be held responsible for what is posted on their servers and networks. After the attack on the Capitol Building in Washington DC driven by social media, that will now change.
The Philippine ISPs are fighting back against Section 9 of RA 9775. They are trying to get an amendment to RA 9775 through the proposed bill of Rizal Second District Rep. Fidel Nograles to members of congress under the guise of strengthening the RA 9775. He is proposing that the most important provision that requires the ISPs to install the child pornography blocking software BE REPEALED! Nograles has filed last year House Bill (HB) 7633 that seeks to remove Section 9 of RA 9775. That is a wrong and immoral proposal. Section 9 is the strongest provision of the law that aims to protect children from child sexual abusers. We can only presume that the ISPs are behind this bill.
Now that President Rodrigo Duterte and his cabinet has correctly come out to support the thousands of Filipino children being sexually abused on-line and in child pornography, that obnoxious bill will die the death it deserves. President Duterte should end his war-on-drugs having done all he can and start a new “war” against child pornography and on-line streaming of child sexual abuse, a true and noble endeavour.
His biggest challengers are the telecommunication corporations. Will he and his government have the courage and power to rise up to meet the ISPs’ arrogant stand of non- compliance with section 9 of RA 9775? Will he reform the NTC and appoint child-friendly defenders?
The question is, “Are the present officials following the command of the ISPs or following President Duterte and his cabinet?” There must be reform of the NTC and imposition of fines of a million pesos a day until compliance is done. Also, a strong legal action by the Department of Justice is needed to enforce the law.
Child defenders can campaign and appeal to the global telecommunication corporations that are in partnership with the Philippine telecommunication corporations to require the Philippines ISPs to be more ethical and lawful. These global companies exercise more corporate responsibility and higher ethical standards. They could decide not to renew contracts with the Philippine ISPs.
Hundreds of thousands of children could be protected and saved from the horrific abuse that they suffer to satisfy the lust and sexual desires of paedophiles and the profit of their enablers. The children are the most important of all in society. The role of governments is to protect the citizens and children are the most vulnerable and need strong action to save and protect them.
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Discovering Human Dignity Shay Cullen 9 January 2021
When I see the newly arrived children- all victims of human right violations and sexual abuse- healing and recovering in our Preda Foundation home and striving to be “good,” to be a “better person”, somehow thinking they are “bad,” I and the Preda staff continuously tell them in Filipino that: “You are good children and youth. You have done no wrong, you are innocent victims of bad people who trafficked and abused you.”
It takes a long while for them to understand this. Then, the day arrives when they have had their fifth or sixth session of Emotional Release Therapy. That is where they dramatically confront their abusers in the padded therapy room and fight back at their rapist. They shout his name, cry and scream at him and pound the cushions as if beating him. They are tearing free from the fear and subjugation they endured. In time, they have a new self-understanding. It is an emotional resurrection, the greatest moment of liberation in their lifetime.
They come to realize that they are good persons and have been exploited and abused. Sandra, a 13-year-old, who was repeatedly raped and beaten by her biological father, told how she felt in a group session after her therapy, “I feel free from them, I can live on my own, I see now what is true, I have my dignity”,
The children have broken free from the culture of servility and domination and being downtrodden, and discovered the most important of all. They discovered they have that vital and all-important inherent value of all humanity- human dignity. They have been brainwashed and told all their lives in the slums, living in poverty, without proper education, that they are of little worth, of no value and are better out earning money with their bodies. The younger ones are abused and threatened to tell no one of the sexual abuse. They are told that they did a bad thing and are made to feel guilty and dirty and are wrongly made ashamed of themselves. But from open emotional expression comes freedom and a sense of self-confidence and self-worth and empowerment from knowing that they have dignity and that their dignity has imbued them with inalienable rights.
Human dignity is the greatest value in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It was neglected, ignored and lost for thousands of years. In fact, the word itself was lost until recent history. The idea, concept or belief in human dignity as an ‘inherent or unearned worth of humans’ was not even used in any official or government document, researchers say, until it appeared by chance in the Mexican Constitution of 1917. Then, it was a vague reference to human value. The word only appeared in 1948 when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified by the United Nations. In the introduction, the word is used twice to justify why humans have inalienable rights. That humans have these rights is an idea, a concept, based on the belief that the human species has an ‘inherent or unearned worth of humans’ above all other creatures and species on the planet.
Until the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came in to force in the membership nations that made up the United Nations, many countries without a fair and human rights-based legal system frequently treated people as disposable items by those in power and authority. That authority was absolute, unquestionable, and every person was at its mercy without respect or recourse.
The abominations, atrocities and genocide of World War II gave rise to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as humanity realized that without the recognition of the dignity of the human person, and their rights arising from it enforced in law and practice, they didn’t have a chance to survive the rise of fascist authoritarian regimes.
The principles and the rights laid out by the Declaration has been universally accepted and recognized by most nations, on paper at least. Many regimes ignore the rights and dignity of their citizens that must be treated with respect, equality, and human value as enshrined in the Declaration and to be enforced and implemented by Rule of Law.
There is international action, condemnation and protest when the violations of human rights and human dignity are violated. Protests, demonstrations, marches, social media campaigns raise their voice to denounce the violations although much more has to be done.
The imposition of UN sanctions and the deployment of peace-keeping troops and the indictments of the International Criminal Court of Justice are some ways the world community can bring an erring regime to accountability and yet the massacres, child sexual abuse, violations and trampling on human dignity and rights continue unabated. Just as corrupt politicians, criminal gangs, drug cartel leaders and mafia bosses are the killers and tramplers of human rights, so too are the many individuals who abuse children and their enablers and protectors. It is only in our generation in the last twenty years that there has been an outcry and movement to condemn child sexual abuse and human trafficking and enact strict laws to bring abusers to account and to jail.Tolerance, apathy, indifference, secret approval of child abuse was the custom and in many places it still is. In the Philippines, life sentences are frequently handed down to child sex abusers and human traffickers. The strict laws, driven through congress by civil society, are most important in doing justice for the victims of these heinous crimes against children.
Let us not forget where human dignity, respect for human rights of children and women, were first announced and taught. It was by that inspired man, the prophetic Jesus of Nazareth, who constantly championed the rights of children and declared the child as the most important in his planned society of justice, equality, dignity and peace. To accept and respect the child was to accept him. That is a strong endorsement of human dignity of the most vulnerable in society.
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When GMA passes this bill under her leadership in the House of Representatives, she can prove several things:
One, that she is capable of hijacking a long dead agenda to come to life just as how she was able to put herself back in power after years of pretending to be sick and weak. Playing dead is her go-to tactic for survival.
Two, that finally one of the administration’s priority bills can be passed into law after 3 years of trying—first, the death penalty bill, then this Batang Bilanggo bill, then later on ChaCha. None of which has actually passed, thanks to civil society’s vigilance and actions. We are truly more powerful together than the people in power.
Third, that she can distract us from her low trust ratings, and the even bigger economic crisis everyone is feeling now. This is the administration’s last attempt to save face after their ChaCha efforts went down the drain.
All these, in the name of our children. Not political will, not being against criminality, but sheer evil maneuvering even if it means hostaging our children’s future.
But she will prove one more thing: that the Filipinos will not allow our children’s future to be taken hostage by this government.
If we will not stand for the children failed by the system, we are letting down a generation taken into hostage by this administration. If the government cannot keep away illegal drugs from our communities, why do they hostage children to bring success stories of their failed war on drugs?
We challenge the Congress and Duterte’s administration: capture the adults in the drug and crime syndicates they are so obsessed about, arrest the corrupt old Marcos and Marcos-wannabe PDAF politicos, don’t lay your hands on our children.
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The Filipino youth mourns the move of the lower house of Congress in bringing down the age of criminal responsibility of children from 15 to 9 years old. Instead of strengthening RA 9344 also known as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, the government opted to pin the liability on children, fueling the growing disregard to the accountability of the real perpetrators.
The lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility completely violates the fundamental principles of child protection and welfare. The proposed measure also violates the principle that our laws must protect the child’s well-being and development.
It is not surprising for the present Philippine government to disregard basic human rights principles, as it has consistently attacked the concept of human rights through its anti-poor, non-scientific, and shortsighted approach in policy development. Still, the Youth for Human Rights and Democracy is looking at the small light of hope that the government finally realizes and fulfills its commitment not only to domestic laws protecting the welfare of children, but also to international human rights instruments specially the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Y4HRD joins the organizations and groups that are working closely on the issue of the rights and welfare of children in the collective response to prevent the bill from becoming into law. We urge the government, especially now that the measure is set to be heard in the Senate, to rethink its position and to fully and strictly implement RA 9344 instead. We also call on the National Youth Commission to speak out and perform its mandate to prevent this detrimental and anti-youth bill from becoming a state policy.
#ChildrenNotCriminals
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Senators disagree on lowering age of criminal liability
Senators are divided on the move to lower the age of criminal liability, even as Senate President Tito Sotto maintained that majority of the upper chamber’s members are in favor of the move.
Sotto said senators would only have to discuss the minimum age it would be lowered to.
“But the important thing is that we all agreed that it should be lower and they should be held accountable,” Sotto told reporters Monday after the House Justice panel passed a bill lowering the age of criminal responsibility to nine from 15 years old.
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BALAOD Mindanaw, Inc. is deeply distraught by the decision of the House of Representatives – Committee Level approving the bill on lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years old to 9 years old! We reiterate our stand that this bill is not the solution to the increasing crime rate in the Philippines! This bill further exposes the Filipino children to more abuse and exploitation as opposed to what the majority of these lawmakers make themselves believe!
IT DOES NOT IN ANY WAY PROTECT OUR CHILDREN!
The approval of this bill in the lower house is not just alarming but severely disturbing that our legislators seems to deliberately disregard the true essence of their constitutional mandate of serving and protecting the life, liberty, and property of its people. They continuously pass a number of laws and propose bills that does not in any way promote social justice, value the dignity of every human person, and/or guarantee full respect for human rights.
Our 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that our beloved country is a democratic and a republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from the people. Now, we appeal to the sovereign public to join us in urging the legislators to stop showing their disdain to our Filipino children!
We call on the Congress to listen to our cry!
DISCARD this bill on lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility!
Propose a bill and approve a law focusing on the forceful strengthening of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act instead!
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GOVERNMENT SHOULD GET ITS RIGHTS ACT TOGETHER. Prioritize Children’s Right to Health Now. Enhance PCMC Services, Stop NHA Institutional Greed.
Photo by CATWAP
1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.
Convention on Rights of the Child. Article 24
The Aquino Government has another opportunity to assert and confirm its paradigm shift to the primacy of human rights in its governance and development implementation. This means that the branches of government and the offices under the Executive should work together ensuring the maximum implementation of citizens’ human rights. No branch or any office should be allowed, much less act with impunity, to violate any right implemented by another government body.
While there is no hierarchy of rights, it could prioritize those which should benefit particularly the poor, vulnerable and the marginalized. The opportune moment is to prioritize our children’s right to health by enhancing the services and not diminishing the needed space for development of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).
While the Philippine government had projected itself in the international community as child-friendly by ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), one of its agencies, the National Housing Authority (NHA) had systematically eroded the capability of the country’s premier hospital for poor and sick children by taking pieces of PCMC land.
Surely, NHA officials are not bereft of knowledge that PCMC is the smallest and under-budgeted hospital compared to the other government-subsidized Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center and the NKTI. If they cared at all for the country’s poor and sick children, they would have known of the diminishing budget allotted to PCMC since the Arroyo administration. Certainly, this is not judicious distribution of public funds for the citizens’ enjoyment of their rights. This is discriminatory of the poor and sick children and of a perceived “unprofitable” government institution.
While part of the state, NHA fails to see its obligation of properly housing poor and sick children, much less the interrelationship of a right to housing to the right to health. Greed does give a tunnel vision only for unmitigated profit. And even children can be sacrificed on the altar of financial gain. And, if not corrected, such selfish taint would tarnish the whole Aquino administration.
And to think that after government excuses itself of being unable to deliver the basic services to the poor, vulnerable and the marginalized due to “insufficient funds”, there are some Php 72 B “savings” for the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to distribute to politicians of Napoles-ian appetite for “pork” through the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). PCMC with its growing clientele of poor and sick children, in the meantime, is being squeeze for more “fat”.
The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) recognizes that for a children’s hospital to ensure total healing, it needs open spaces, gardens, trees. Furthermore, the demand for services, according to PCMC’s Director Julius Lecciones, is increasing. From only 4,000 inpatients a year, it now provides care to more than 11,000 inpatients in the same period, plus 70,000 out patients. Some 60% of its patients get subsidized care ranging from 100% to 25%. Still, subsidized patients only manage to pay 30% of their bills. The number of subsidized patients is rising by 25% each year.
As articulated in the Declaration of the World Summit on Children, “Enhancement of children’s health and nutrition is a first duty [of governments]…The well being of children requires political action at the highest level….”
Thus, PAHRA calls on
President Aquino to wipe out PCMC’s rental debt burden and to donate the land to PCMC;
The Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) not to buy any part of PCMC land.
Prioritize Children’s Right to Health Now. Enhance PCMC Services, Stop NHA Institutional Greed.
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GENEVA – As many as 10.5 million children worldwide work as domestic servants, in what can be hazardous and even slave-like conditions, the International Labor Organization said Wednesday.
The UN labor agency said almost three quarters of such youngsters are girls, and that 6.5 million child servants are between five and 14 years old.
The reality on the ground flies in the face of international efforts to halt such exploitation, said Constance Thomas, director of the ILO’s global program to eliminate child labor.
“The situation of many child domestic workers not only constitutes a serious violation of child rights, but remains an obstacle to the achievement of many national and international development objectives,” she said.
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Children advocates to push for “child-centered” elections
Manila, Philippines – A group of non-government and civil society organizations and child-led groups working for the protection of children’s rights will embark on a campaign that will advance children’s issues at the center of electoral discussions this May 2013 national elections.
The nationwide campaign, dubbed as “Bata Muna” will urge candidates to adopt a political platform that will stand up for children and their rights. It will also educate voters to choose candidates that do not only kiss and hug babies during sorties, but candidates who have concrete policies and programs for children.
“This campaign aims to educate voters, candidates and the general public on the urgency of children’s issues and to bring these issues into the heart of public discussion and debate specifically for the coming elections. We hope to raise as many voices as possible, including the voices of children themselves, calling on every voter to vote for candidates who will stand up for children’s rights,” says Anna Lindenfors, Country Director of Save the Children in the Philippines.
“The campaign also aims to convince political candidates to include the issues of children in their electoral platform,” adds Lindenfors.
The Philippines, having ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), has an obligation to do its best, to the full extent of its resources, to make sure that the rights of the child are realized in the country. Currently, 193 countries are signatory to the UN CRC.
Meanwhile, Rodelio Ablir, Executive Director of the Samahan ng Mamamayan – Zone One Tondo Organization (SM-ZOTO) opines, “we have to carefully check and elect government officials that truly care for our children and their rights. During elections, candidates repetitively boast that they care for children only to realize that very few of them, when elected, will responsibly stand up for our kids. It is very disappointing that legislative proposals that are meant to protect our children are not considered important and had to take a back seat, while bills that threaten children’s well-being are persistently being pushed.”
“For example, our senators and congressmen are leaving the proposed positive discipline bill behind while fast tracking the amendments of the juvenile justice law specially lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12. It seems that our legislators, now in the bicameral level, are more motivated in sending children beginning the age of 12 into jail while at the same time are very cautious in taking up banning corporal punishment of children, still pending at 1st reading in the Senate as of this time” adds Ablir.
Lindenfors explains that children constitute the biggest proportion of the population that access basic services from the government. Thus, they suffer the most when services are poor or lacking, or when government is weak or inefficient. Just like any other citizen, children deserve quality programs and services. They deserve accountable, responsive and honest government officials who will look after their best interest.
“If we have these kinds of leaders in office, parents will no longer worry if they have a sick child, if they don’t have enough money for their children’s schooling or if their child is outside of their home because they know that their government will protect and provide quality services for their children,” she explains.
It has been observed that, across the world, bad governance has had a devastating effect on children, often contributing to conflict, climate change, poverty and, ultimately, the failure to promote the survival and wellbeing of the most marginalized.
The nationwide campaign will kick off in March with a solidarity launch to be jointly organized by Save the Children, SM-ZOTO, Plan International, ChildFund, Asia ACTs, Children Talk to Children (C2C) about the UN CRC Project and WomanHealth Philippines. The highlight of the campaign is a dialogue between the political candidates and children. ENDS
For more info, please contact:
Angel Tiamson-Saceda, Communications Officer, Save the Children
angel.saceda@savethechildren.org +63 9178590759
Notes to Editors:
Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfill their potential.
We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives with programs in health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights, also in times of humanitarian crises.
Samahan ng Mamamayan – Zone One Tondo Organization, popularly known as ZOTO, is one of the oldest people’s organizations in the Philippines. For more than 40 years now since its founding during the Martial Law years, ZOTO continues to implement integrated community development programs to empower the poor in claiming their human rights. Today, the organization is composed of 646 local urban poor organizations with 32,777 members in 28 urban poor relocation areas in the NCR, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga and Rizal.
Plan is an international humanitarian, child-centered development organization working in 69 countries worldwide. Our presence in the Philippines traces back to 1961 when Plan was invited by Carlos P. Romulo, to work in the country. For over 50 years now, our work and investment have been broadly based around key issues affecting children: education, health, livelihood, governance, water and environmental sanitation, child protection and disaster risk reduction and management. We are present in six of the country’s poorest provinces: Masbate, Occidental Mindoro, Eastern Samar, Western Samar, Northern Samar, and Southern Leyte. We also have special projects in Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, Maguindanao, Compostela Valley, and Davao Oriental in Mindanao, and Tanay, Rizal in Luzon.
Plan’s vision is of a world in which all children realize their full potential in societies that respect people’s rights and dignity. Child CenteredCommunity Development (CCCD) is Plan’s Child Rights approach in which children, families and communities are active and leading participants in their own development. This approach recognizes the intrinsic link between poverty and rights, where poverty is both a cause and consequence of the denial of rights.
ChildFund helps deprived, excluded and vulnerable children have the capacity to improve their lives and the opportunity to become young adults, parents and leaders who bring lasting and positive change to their communities. We promote societies whose individuals and institutions participate in valuing, protecting and advancing the worth and rights of children.”
Asia ACTs is a regional network of organizations working together to protect all children in Southeast Asia from exploitation and abuse. With partners in Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, Asia ACTs aims to create a wider community that protects violence against children and to establish strong and effective child protection mechanisms.
Children Talk to Children (C2C) about the UN CRC Project is a joint initiative of four child-led organizations. The project aims to support children in preparing and submitting their own report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; and develop children’s skills in engaging the government and the general public in raising and addressing children’s issues. The project is involving girls and boys aged 10-17 years old based in urban communities in Metro Manila and Cavite Province. A Project Team, a core group of 24 children, leads the planning, implementation and evaluation of project activities.
Began in 2009, the C2C Project has been implementing activities to monitor the implementation of children’s rights both at the local and national levels. Furthermore, the Project has been conducting national level campaigns to hold government accountable to children’s rights and to provide spaces for different children’s organizations to meet and discuss the situation of children and actions government should take to improve the lives of boys and girls.
Since then, the Project was able to produce two magazines named Teka Muna, Bata Muna (Wait a minute, let’s put children first). The first magazine was issues in 2009. It contains artworks, games, articles and stories that children did to raise awareness on children’s rights, child rights monitoring and issues. The second magazine was issues in 2012. It contains research findings and children’s recommendations on six priority issues of children namely early pregnancy, corporal punishment, lack of safe space for children, out of school children, less participation of children and child labor. Children Talk to Children (C2C) about the UN CRC Project is a joint initiative of four child-led organizations. The project aims to support children in preparing and submitting their own report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; and develop children’s skills in engaging the government and the general public in raising and addressing children’s issues. The project is involving girls and boys aged 10-17 years old based in urban communities in Metro Manila and Cavite Province. A Project Team, a core group of 24 children, leads the planning, implementation and evaluation of project activities. Began in 2009, the C2C Project has been implementing activities to monitor the implementation of children’s rights both at the local and national levels. Furthermore, the Project has been conducting national level campaigns to hold government accountable to children’s rights and to provide spaces for different children’s organizations to meet and discuss the situation of children and actions government should take to improve the lives of boys and girls. Since then, the Project was able to produce two magazines named Teka Muna, Bata Muna (Wait a minute, let’s put children first). The first magazine was issues in 2009. It contains artworks, games, articles and stories that children did to raise awareness on children’s rights, child rights monitoring and issues. The second magazine was issues in 2012. It contains research findings and children’s recommendations on six priority issues of children namely early pregnancy, corporal punishment, lack of safe space for children, out of school children, less participation of children and child labor.
WomanHealth Philippines is a national organization that promotes, advances and defends women’s rights to health, reproductive self-determination and sexuality towards women’s empowerment in society. A critical part of our work is collaborating with women and communities to claim their right to health through appropriate programs and increased resources to reduce infant, child and maternal mortality, and early pregnancy, and ensure access to universal health care for all.
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Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.
The Children Talk to Children (C2C) About the UN CRC Project, a joint initiative of four child-led organizations that are based in Caloocan, Cavite and Pasay aims to strengthen the meaningful participation of greater number of children in CRC monitoring and campaign.
Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.
Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit legal resource human rights organization for children committed to advancing children’s rights and welfare through the provision of its services based on human rights developmental framework approach and methodologies.
With Whom: Minerva Cabiles, Child Rights Governance Advisor, Save the Children
Rodelio Ablir, Executive Director, Samahan ng Mamamayan – Zone One Tondo (ZOTO) Inc.
And 400 children and adult representatives
When: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, November 17, 2012 (Saturday) Amoranto Theater, Gate 4, Don Alejandro Roces cor. Reyes St., Quezon City
Why: In commemoration of the 23rd Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) this coming November 20, more than 400 children and supporting adults from 40 children’s groups and child-focused civil society organizations nationwide will gather in a national forum on children’s issues.
The forum aims to gather children’s organizations from different parts of the country to share their perspectives on priority child rights issues that they face in their localities and draw up a list of key recommendations on what the government can do to address these issues. These recommendations can be the basis of children’s advocacy agenda that civil society organizations and children’s groups can take forward at the national and local levels, and especially in the coming electoral campaign process.
The event is organized through the Children Talk to Children About the UN CRC (C2C) Project, a child-led initiative on child rights monitoring and national-level child rights advocacy being supported by the Samahan ng Mamamayan-Zone One Tondo (ZOTO), Inc. and Save the Children since 2009. Program Flow:
8:00-8:30am Parade of 400 children and adults with symbolic effigy and advocacy messages in placards, banners and streamers
8:30-9:00am Children Talk to Children (C2C) Project Video and Teka Muna, Bata Muna Magazine Launch
9:00-3:00pm Discussion, presentation and open forum on children’s issues and recommendations
3:30-4:00pm Synchronized dance of 250 children as a symbol of solidarity for children’s welfare
Details/Contacts: For media practitioners who are interested to cover the event, please confirm your attendance by sending a text message to or calling Ms. Angel Tiamson-Saceda, Communications Officer, Save the Children, at 09178590759. You can also call at +63 2 853-21-42 or send a fax at +63 2 853-0215.
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His Excellency Benigno Simeon Aquino III President, Republic of the Philippines Malacanang Palace JP Laurel Street , San Miguel, Manila 1005 Philippines
Dear His Excellency President Aquino,
We, the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC), an NGO that monitors, documents, investigates and provides direct services to cases of violence against children, with special focus on children in conflict with the law and child sexual abuse through our direct legal assistance and awareness-raising program on children’s rights and the law, write with grave concern regarding House Bill 6052, amending the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (a.k.a. Republic Act 9344), specifically on lowering the age of criminal responsibility The said bill has already passed the third reading in the House of Representatives on 4th June 2012, when the whole nation was glued at the Corona impeachment trial.
The CLRDC, together with our nationwide networks of community-based NGOs that promote human rights of all people, were saddened and at the same time alarmed by the hastily passage of HB 6052 at the House of Representatives,
This HB 6052 undermines all efforts to build a child friendly juvenile justice system that supports rehabilitation and reintegration. Moreover the most marginalized and neglected group of our society, children from very low socio-economic backgrounds, would even more have to suffer from degrading and humiliating treatments by being locked away in detention centers or jails; often even together with adults. All this runs counter to the principle of the “child´s best interest” and against the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which the Philippine government has acceded to.
The supporters of HB 6052 refer to unfounded and baseless reports that criminal gangs and syndicates are hiring minors in order to avoid arrest and prosecution. The logical solution would have to be to run after the gangs and prevent them from exploiting children by efficient police work, and not to punish the children. Why suffer the children for the ineffective implementation by the law enforcers of RA 9344.
Instead of amending a six-year old law, inefficiency in the implementation by local and law enforcement and authorities must be reviewed, let alone the alleged cases of torture committed against Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) while they are being arrested and / or while being detained.
CLRDC and its nationwide networks of children’s organizations support the recommendations of Germany and Norway in the recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippines by the UN Human Rights Council, when they pronounced that Juvenile Justice Law must be effectively implemented, and the further recommendation that minimum age of criminal responsibility should not be lowered. Further recommendations by the European Delegations and majority of States during the UPR stressed the promotion and protection of the best interests of the child.
In this regard, we kindly appeal to your Excellency, to give RA 9344 a chance to be effectively implemented, Amendment is not the solution for the State implementers’ failure to fulfil and discharge its human rights obligations. Violations committed against CICL such as torture, as well as their inhumane conditions in jails must be investigated. Under no circumstances that House Bill 6052 is fair to our children! Consequences such as higher numbers of child prisoners will be a step backward on our common goal towards the full enjoyment of human rights by everyone.
Please find attached briefing paper on RA 9344 as well as factual information why RA 9344 should not be amended.
Thank you very much and sincerely,
Rowena Legaspi
Executive Director
The Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center, Inc. (CLRDC) is the Convener-Secretariat of Children’s Legal Advocacy Network (CLAN)[1], a coalition of NGOs that promotes the human rights of children.
Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC)
Child Justice League (CJL)
Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC)
Children’s Rights Action Watch
Kapatiran Komunidad Peoples Coalition (KKPC)
KKPC Youth Federation
Kokyo Naki Kodomotachi (Children Without Borders) – Philippines
Kongresong Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML)
Legal Aid Center for Human Rights (LACHR)
Lingap-Kapwa Operasyong pang Dalita (LingKod)
Open Heart Foundation
Peoples Partner for Development and Democracy
Samahan ng Mamamayan – Zone One Tondo (SM-ZOTO)
[1] CLAN is a member of Juvenile Justice Partnership Network (JJPNet), a coalition of networks of networks that promotes the human rights of children in conflict with the law.
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NGOs call on States to ratify the UN complaints procedure on children’s rights
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Geneva, 28 February 2012: For the first time and more than twenty years after the official recognition of their rights, children are provided with the possibility to access justice at the international level through a newly adopted complaints procedure.
For this procedure to become a tangible reality for child victims, States need to sign and ratify the new Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child before it can enter into force and display its effects. The official UN signing ceremony opening the Protocol for signature and ratification took place today, 28 February 2012, during the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva.
Twenty States from across the world, namely Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mali, Montenegro, Morocco, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Uruguay, demonstrated strong leadership and political commitment to protecting children?s rights by signing the Protocol today.
This is an important first step, but those States will still need to ratify the Protocol in order to be bound by its provisions and at least ten countries must ratify the Protocol before it can be used.
?It is our hope that every country lives up to their responsibilities towards children by signing and ratifying this instrument without delay? said Lisa Myers, Director of the NGO Group for the CRC, on behalf of its members and partners, ?We have to make sure that this new instrument enters into force quickly so that it can be used by children who need it.?
The Optional Protocol will invigorate the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its existing Protocols on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the involvement of children in armed conflict. It will give children, and their representatives, the ability, if they cannot secure justice in their country, to appeal to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – the international independent body in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Convention and its Optional Protocols.
The signing ceremony at the United Nations is the result of active campaigning by an NGO coalition representing child rights and human rights NGOs across the world since 2006. The NGO coalition campaigned for this new instrument to offer children a level of protection equivalent to that provided to adults at the UN level.
The NGO coalition will continue its work to ensure that this third Protocol enters into force as soon as possible, as experience working on previous Protocols has shown this to be fundamental. It will also work to raise awareness and understanding about this instrument among adults and children alike, and galvanising public support to make sure this Protocol is used to make a real difference for the protection of children?s rights around the world.
Notes to editors:
The UN official signing ceremony follows the adoption of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly on 19 December 2011 which created this new international treaty.
A complaints or ?communications? procedure allows individuals, groups or their representatives, claiming that their rights have been violated by a State that is a party to a Convention, to bring a communication before the relevant UN treaty body; provided that the State has accepted the procedure and that the complainants have exhausted domestic remedies.
How the CRC complaints procedure is unique:
-In reviewing communications, the Committee on the Rights of the Child must follow the principle of the best interests of the child and have regard to the rights and views of the child;
-The Rules of Procedure for using the complaints mechanism are to be child-sensitive;
-Safeguards must be introduced to prevent potential manipulation of children, and the Committee can decline to consider communications that are not in the child’s best interests;
-The identity of any individuals involved in submitting a complaint, including child victims, cannot be revealed publicly without their express consent; and
-Communications must be submitted with the child victim?s consent, unless the person submitting a complaint can justify acting on the child’s behalf without that consent.
The NGO Group for the CRC is a network of 80 international and national non-governmental organisations, which work together to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
For UN accredited and Geneva based media, please contact Anita Goh, NGO Group for the CRC (in English, French or Spanish) on +41 76 358 1222 or goh@childrightsnet.org for more information and interviews.
For background information on the NGO coalition and the international campaign, see: http://www.childrightsnet.org/NGOGroup/childrightsissues/ComplaintsMechanism/
–Ryan V. Silverio
Convenor Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia)
Unit 1501 Future Point Plaza 1,
112 Panay Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines
Telefax: +632-376-63-88
Mobile: +63917-879-77-10
People usually ask how they can be of help when they are needed to take a stand. Some are even afraid to participate because this might mean committing themselves to something far beyond what they are willing or able to do. One important factor in a cause being realized is the number of people who are willing to stand up and make their voice known.
If a person is interested in fighting for children’s rights or any other advocacy, she or he is an activist waiting to thrive or perhaps already a human rights defender who only need to expand her or his reach.
There is no formal school for one to become a human rights defender. No university degree qualifies the graduate to practice human rights documentation, monitoring and grassroot organizing. On the other hand, they should be able to benefit from the experience of others in defending human rights and to actively participate on trainings on human rights to develop technical skills needed.
STATEMENT ON THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO REPUBLIC ACT 9344
By: Children’s Legal Advocacy Network (CLAN)
The Children’s Legal Advocacy Network (CLAN), a coalition of fifteen strong non-government and peoples’ organizations, respectively, that promotes and protects
the rights and welfare of children, vehemently opposes the amendment of
Republic Act 9344 particularly section 6 of the said law.
CLAN believes that Section 6 of RA 9344 is neither unjust nor arbitrary; in fact it
is backed by scientific research and is based on the framework of Restorative
Justice. The said provision does not only exempt certain group of minors from
criminal liability, but it also provides for the tools to ensure that these minors are
rehabilitated and ultimately integrated with the society.
The proposed amendment runs counter to the Constitutionally-recognized role of
the youth in nation building and the rights of the child to protection enshrined in
the various international human rights instruments specifically by the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC, to which the Philippines
had acceded by its signature and ratification, provides, among others, the right of
children to protection against all forms of violence; the said Convention also
benchmarks the deprivation of liberty as a last resort. This was complemented
with the 1985 UN Beijing Rules on the administration of Juvenile Justice. Thus,
by the proposed amendments, It is unfortunate that children rights have to suffer
as in its present context the proposed amendment has gone beyond the human
rights principles and lack in its entirety a sense of justice for the children in
conflict with the law.
Placing a child below 15 years of age in the grueling system of criminal
procedure embodies degradation and disrespect on the rights of the child to a life
of dignity and full human development. It further runs smacks to the principle of
“child’s best interest” and supplants the very essence of democracy and the total
disregard of the welfare of a child The proposed amendment will only favor
condemnation rather than rehabilitation and reintegration to society of a child in
conflict with the law.
The statement in the proposed amendment that “children below 15 years of are
already capable of discernment “, is merely an opinion and there is no scientific
data or studies to support this opinion.
Majority of CLAN members have been providing direct services to children in
conflict with the law (CICL) in the form of either direct legal assistance or
educational programs. Having been working on the ground with CICL, CLAN
observed that RA 9344 lacks execution and majority of the suppose
implementers of RA 9344 are still in the process of learning the law especially on
the provisions on Diversion. In directly working with CICL concerns, CLAN
witnessed how some local government units fail to perform their roles in the
Diversion program for CICL, which is mandated by RA 9344.
In fact, there have been documented testimonies of some barangay members
showing their ignorance on the implementation of RA 9344 especially on
Diversion programs.
CLAN also observed that most barangays do not even have a Barangay Council
for the Protection of Children that will address children’s rights violations
including that of CICL concerns. Some CLAN members even assisted LGUs in
the establishment of BCPC especially in Barangay Bagong Silang in Caloocan
and in Mapulang Lupa, Valenzuela.
Thus, the proposed amendments should not punish the child. It must address
how to effectively implement the law and provides for stricter penalties to the duty
bearers and State implementers who failed to execute the law in accordance with
the provision of RA 9344 especially on Diversion. RA 9344 was just enacted into
law last 2006 and at this stage, the law must first be disseminated widely, and
not amended.
Amendment is not a solution to the failure of the duty bearers to effectively
implement RA 9344. It is not the answer for the State’s failure to analyze and
understand the oppressive and unjust social conditions of children in conflict with
the law that forced the children to a life of lawlessness, thus adopts a myopic and
heartless solution of criminalizing children in especially difficult circumstances.
We challenged the policy-makers to personally look at the conditions of children
in jails and their lives of abject poverty that thrusts them to commit crimes,
observe the slow pace of the criminal justice system and the failure of the
implementers of law to formulate programs and mechanisms for the CICL’s
rehabilitation and reintegration to society that lead CICL to go back to the streets.
The State has to fulfill its human rights obligations and break the culture of impunity that has permeated every aspect of the government system such that it
has become a license for the wanton omission of State obligations.
Be that as it may, the Children’s Legal Advocacy Network (CLAN) enjoins the
duty bearers and implementers of RA 9344 to effectively implement the said law
to address the inhumane situation of the children in conflict with the law who are
condemned to a life of dehumanization as they are more seen as criminals, not
as victims, and more importantly, not as children. CLAN recommends that an
inquiry be undertaken why the letters of RA 9344 are not well implemented and
why CICL continue to suffer in a cramped, stinky, crowded jail facilities without
the prospects of rehabilitation as a result of the said environment they are
currently situated.
Children’s Legal Advocacy Network (CLAN)
Convener:
Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC)
401-B, 4/F, CRM Building
106 Kamias, Quezon City
Tel No./Fax 4333199
childrenslegalrights@gmail.com; children_legalrights@yahoo.com
Members
Children’s Rights Watch (CRW)
Child Justice League (CJL)
Kapatirang Komunidad Peoples Coalition(KKPC), Barangay Tatalon,Quezon City
KKPC Youth Federation
Kokkyonaki Kodomotachi (Children Without Borders) – Philippines
Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML) Legal Aid Center for Human Rights (LACHR)
LINGKOD
Moro Human Rights Center (MHRC)
Open Heart Foundation
Peoples Partner for Democracy and Development (PPDD)
Teachers Dignity Coalition Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women and Children
Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO)
When the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the apartment in Olongapo that night of May 7, 2010, they found a den of iniquity – money, computers, a gun, video cameras, memory sticks and a pregnant young teenage girl in bed with a man more than twice her age. The man’s father was there also. They are American-Filipinos and had been holding two children, 15 and 16 year-old sisters, in their power and influence since they were ten years old. Medical evidence shows that the16 year-old was used as a sex slave and pregnant at the time of the arrest.
Her sister ran away from the sex den to find help and protection and tell the horrific story of years of abuse to the Preda social workers. Her statement contains allegations of sexual exploitation, the making of child pornography, sexualization and exploitation of the children in photographs and videos which were stored on hard disks and on a laptop found in the apartment.
These photographs were seen by an Assistant Secretary of Justice and showed the main suspect with the child on a bed in the apartment surrounded by what appeared to be hundreds of thousands of US dollars and Philippine pesos and stuffed into the child’s bikini together with a gun.
Mysteriously, the money disappeared soon after the arrest. When the suspects were brought to Manila and jailed, the computers and the laptop and forensic evidence were withheld by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for unknown reasons and were not submitted to the prosecutor at that time, they claim they did so months later.
Despite the efforts of the Preda Foundation legal department to convince the NBI and the Department of Justice to submit the forensic evidence – the photographs, the gun and the money to the prosecutor and pursue justice, nothing was done then. The evidence allegedly mysteriously disappeared.
This led to the dismissal of the charges of trafficking against the two accused. They were released from the NBI detention cells in Manila and immediately took a plane back to California. Allegedly, they claimed they never got back any of the money from the NBI arresting agents. The NBI agent in charge said some money was spent as expenses and claimed that there was no incriminating forensic evidence that showed any child abuse.
This failure to prosecute prompted the Preda paralegal team to file charges themselves against the accused for child sexual abuse under Republic Act 7610. Appeals to the NBI to submit the forensic evidence produced some results recently. The NBI said they submitted the forensic evidence to the docket section under the office of the city prosecutor Emilie Fe M.De Los Santos. But that evidence has not yet reached the desk of prosecutor Melani Fay Banarez who is assigned to the case.
Yet the one shining moment came last 19 May 2011, when prosecutor Melani Fay Banarez reviewed all the existing evidence and determined that the medical evidence of one sister showing her to be pregnant, the statements of the other younger victim and other strong evidence showing that they were sexually abused by the suspects since they were 13 and 14 years of age. This and other evidence was sufficient for Prosecutor Banarez to file the charges before the Olongapo city Regional Trial Court Branch 73. This is an important and positive step in the right direction.
The dark clouds of unknowing and inaction that allow the regular dismissal of child abuse complaints and charges that have traditionally hung-over the prosecution of sex offenders who molest and rape children, parted for one bright shining moment and a shaft of light has shone through. How long this spotlight will remain on the case has yet to be seen. But the human rights workers and child defenders are determined to see it through to the end and pursue justice.
Yet justice, the heart of a civilized and caring nation, cannot be done until the system is cleansed of corrupt practices and procedures, unfair tactics, bribery and skullduggery. It is in the implementation of the law justly, honestly and with compassion and discipline as determined by the circumstance of the case that a peaceful and equal society will prevail.
Despite all the problems in the Philippine courts and prosecution system where judges have outrageously ordered that children trafficked, raped and abused be returned to their pimps by the abuse of the Habeas Corpus law, good judges release minors from degrading prison conditions for transfer to healthy rehabilitation centres.
Success in the campaign for freedom of children in sub-human prison conditions where their human rights are violated daily is gaining ground in the experience of the PREDA Foundation. (www.preda.org) hundreds of minors have been rescued by the foundation’s social workers with the court orders of good judges who implement the Juvenile Justice and Welfare law. Minors younger than 15 years old and below are not to be criminally charged under this law but are to be diverted to rehabilitation programmes for counseling and character formation. Others, where municipal social workers can determine that the minors over 15 years-old have done a criminal act without discernment can also be diverted to a rehabilitation centre while the prosecutor decides the case. This prevents the incarceration of these youngsters in prisons where they are influenced by the hardened criminals even if they are now kept in separate cells.
However in many municipalities the police frequently detain the minors over 15 years-old in overcrowded holding cells with other adults accused of crimes. The big change is that rarely do they jail those kids under fifteen. This is a big development. In the past, kids as young as 6 years old were jailed and we must never forget these violations of children’s rights and how easily it became a regular practice. In some municipalities the police turn the street kids in conflict with the law over to the municipal social welfare office. They have no facilities and are incapable of dealing with the children and some even lock them up in overcrowded makeshift cells until the social worker can identify them and find their parents which is a near impossible task considering the slums where the shacks and hovels are piled on top of each other without street names or addresses.
The positive developments since the passing of the Juvenile Justice bill and the non-stop work of PREDA social workers helping release children from prison and giving them a chance for a new life of dignity and healing has seen remarkable success. This shameful practice of jailing small children and teenagers while still innocent until proven guilty as seen in the past by these photos on our web site shows that we can never return to this phase of child abuse and must continue to campaign to stop its continued practice in some police jails and detention centers. The photos show how blatant was and is the violation of the human rights of children by the authorities against all the conventions and protocols signed by the Philippine government to protect children’s rights.
While some government officials would like to ban and remove these photos from our website since they are an embarrassment and evidence of government neglect, and we need them to help parents and social workers to identify them as lost and missing children and return them to their parents. Besides, they are evidence of human rights violations and should not be censored. Until there is a national database of missing children there is no other way to find missing, abducted or lost children.
But let us not forget that it happened on a large scale and still happens to a lesser degree. But we cannot forget and continue the fight for the protection of human rights and show that the Philippines must never tolerate such practice ever again. We cannot rewrite this sad history but we can build a brighter future for children in conflict with the law.
There are some police and politicians that would favour repealing the law protecting child form arbitrary detention and changing back to the law to hold minors younger than 15 years liable for prosecution and detention. The good news is that the Aquino Government is getting serious about prison reform. It will benefit minors and we give full support to the progressive moves to reform the prison system where children are at times still jailed with adults. The most congested jails in Metro Manila are the Quezon City jail, with a congestion rate of 295 percent; followed by the Las Piñas City jail, 259 percent; and the Manila City jail, 195 percent. Camp Karingal’s Female Dormitory was found 197 percent crammed, while the Paranaque City jail was 132 percent packed.
It is urgent to change this horrific situation of prisoners and treat them as human beings with rights and dignity despite their crimes. Above all children must never be jailed. There are other positive ways to help and treat them.
Human Rights Online Philippines 