By John Rey Saavedra/PNA
CEBU CITY — The family is a very important element in addressing issues on children who are in conflict with the law (CICL), a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) official said on Tuesday.
Rebecca Geamala, newly-appointed director of DSWD-7 (Central Visayas), was reacting to the House of Representatives justice committee’s approval of a bill seeking to lower the age of criminal liability to nine years old.
“It should be the family who should be responsible to their children. We in DSWD have to ensure that the families (of CICL) are taken care of and given ample support (from the government),” Geamala told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview.
She said children who commit crimes should not be placed right away in Bahay Pag-asa rehabilitation centers, which are run by the DSWD or any children’s welfare institution.
Bahay Pag-asa should be the last recourse, she said.
She said a child offender who commits a crime for the first time and the crime is not heinous should not be taken away from the family.
“Parents must be responsible, as custodian, to bring their child to the court,” she said.
Geamala said the agency is ready to adopt the changes in the state’s policy.
Under Republic Act (RA) No. 10630, which strengthened the juvenile justice system and amending the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (RA 9344), a regional interagency committee is formed that monitors cases involving CICLs. It reports regularly to the Juvenile Justice Welfare Committee attached to the DSWD and composed of different departments of the national government.
The law also ensures that CICLs are referred to Bahay Pag-asa, a 24-hour institution “providing short-term residential care for the CICLs who are above 15 but below 18 years old.”
It also exempts from criminal liability a child aged 15 years or younger at the time of the commission of the offense.
On Monday, House Bill No. 505 filed by Tarlac 2nd District Rep. Victor Yap that seeks to set the minimum age of criminal responsibility at nine years old, was passed in the House committee level.
