Implementation of juvenile justice law still hangs

Every day without fail, 42-year-old vendor Aling Milagring (not her real name) goes to the Manila Youth Reception Center on Arroceros street in Ermita to present her son John’s authenticated birth certificate in the hope that she could take him home with her.

John (not his real name), a juvenile delinquent, has been charged with petty theft and stays under the care of the Manila Youth Reception Center (MYRC). John and Aling Milagring declined to have their pictures taken to avoid being identified. This is also the policy of MYRC to protect the children and their families.

But social workers Lea Mirande and Mila Reusora turn Aling Milagring away with a heavy heart, explaining to her that John’s birth certificate is not enough to gain her son’s release.

Not even the provision under RA 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Law that grants a retroactive dismissal of criminal cases filed against minor offenders aged 15 and younger throughout the country can be cited to obtain the child’s release.

Until the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 9344 are formulated and enforced, the 90 minor offenders, including John, will not be allowed to return home even though they were automatically entitled to this benefit after the juvenile justice measure was passed.

In the meantime, the parents of these kids, the non-government organizations (NGOs) and social workers will have to wait for the IRR of the bill to be produced.

This gap in the bill’s implementation is what concerns NGOs, child rights advocates and social workers like Mirande and Reusora.

If the immediate effect of RA 9344 was to be the retroactive dismissal of criminal cases filed against minor offenders, why wait for the IRR of the bill to be enforced, they ask.

And once the IRR of the bill is enforced, does it really guarantee that the children will finally be released?

Will the bill’s IRR really come out in August or three months after the measure was signed into law?

What the NGOs, social workers and child rights advocate want is the assurance that when the IRR of the bill comes out in August, the children who stand to benefit from RA 9344 will be freed.

These concerns were discussed at the forum on the implementation of RA 9344 held at De La Salle University in Manila last Friday.

The participants asked Sen. Francis Pangilinan, the author of the bill and guest speaker, how to best address these concerns.

Pangilinan acknowledged the problem in the bill’s implementation, saying an effective way to make the law work for minor offenders is for the whole juvenile justice network to work together.

"The IRR is yet to be implemented and I understand your concern. This is the challenge for the whole juvenile justice network. The passage of this bill won’t solve problems or make things easy. Things do not end in the passage of the law. This bill should provide a roadmap to achieving our goal to help juvenile delinquents," he told the forum participants.

Social workers are frustrated to see that although the bill has already been passed into law, many minor offenders are still behind bars and have yet to benefit from the law.

"There is a clamor to release the children. Much as we would like to see these kids go, we have no power. For as long as the IRRs are not enforced, we can’t do anything but wait for a court order," Reusora said in an interview.

The passage of RA 9344 or the measure that exempts minors below 15 years of age from criminal punishment is considered a landmark law for the country.

The plight of Filipino minor offenders gained international attention when it was reported that Filipino children were put behind bars with hardened criminals.

According to statistics, these kids — some female and some with mental disabilities — are deprived of access to legal, social, psychological and medical assistance.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development reported that in year 2000, a total of 10,094 children were apprehended, 703 of them girls.

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), on the other hand, reported that 13,300 cases involving children in conflict with the law were handled in 2002.

In 2003, this figure ballooned to over 26,000.

From 1995 to 2000, the Council for the Welfare of Children accounted a disturbing total of 52,756 children who came in conflict with the law.

In a bid to address this problem, Pangilinan crafted a juvenile justice system measure.

The bill’s passage was no walk in the park, Pangilinan earlier said.

The bill was introduced in the Senate as early as Ninth Congress but only reached deliberation during the 12th Congress.

After protracted debates, the bicameral panel approved the bill on March 21 and it was signed into law last May 22.

A month after the law was signed, the provision granting retroactive dismissal of criminal cases filed against hundreds of children convicted of various crimes has yet to be enforced.

Still, Reusora and Mirande are keeping their fingers crossed that come August, with the IRR set in place, the children will be freed.

Until then, the MYRC will continue to be their home.

The MYRC, which is managed by department head Dr. Jose Baranda, houses 250 youth offenders aged 10 to 17. The center has a cluster of six dormitories with iron grills similar to regular adult jails in the country.

According to Mirande, the center can only accommodate 100 youth inmates and as a result of overcrowding, the male prisoners sleep on the floor.

The female inmates, on the other hand, have more comfortable sleeping quarters.

Still, Mirande and Reusora would like to see all children go home to their families soon and start a new life.

"That is why we are hoping that the IRR of this bill to be released in August will guarantee the freedom of the 90 children under our care," they said.