The Regional Juvenile Justice and Welfare Committee (RJJWC) of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) MIMAROPA Region led the campaign against the lowering of Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR) during the conduct of DSWD 66th Anniversary last February 23, 2017.
In order to show strong support to #JailNoChild movement, DSWD officials and staff join the one (1) Million Signature Campaign and Noise Barrage which lasted for five minutes.
Lowering the MACR from 15 to nine (9) years old is based on House BiIl No. 02 which the DSWD and RJJWC strongly oppose to be passed in Congress
RA 9344 as amended by RA 10630 is a landmark child protection law that seeks to remedy the significant problems of the plight of children in conflict with the law in the Philippines. It established a comprehensive and child-sensitive justice system.
It emphasizes on responsibility of the duty bearers and the society to establish a protective and enabling environment; provide juvenile delinquency prevention and intervention principles; introduce diversion program; and strengthen rehabilitation, reintegration and aftercare programs.
The highlights of RA 10630 are as follows: minimum age of criminal responsibility should be retained at 15 years old; clarify procedures for children below MACR including those who committed serious offense; and establish the Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support (IJIS) Center within the Bahay Pag-asa (BPA).
A forum at Epifanio Delos Santos Elementary School was also conducted by Rosa Fe B. Roxas, RJJWC Focal, in order to strengthen the #JailNoChilld campaign and heighten awareness and involvement of the children.
According to Roxas, there are 525 Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) in MIMAROPA Region wherein Palawan has the highest number. On the other hand, the top three (3) offenses committed by CICLs are theft, robbery and rape.
“Based on the result of our Information Drive and Focus Group Discussions, some reasons of CICL for committing crimes are as follows: financial limitations, absentee parents, bullying brought by comparison of children by parents, peer pressure, poor parenting, broken families and influence of social media,” emphasized Roxas during the #JailNoChild Campaign.
To illustrate why CICL exist in the environment, an Educational Film featuring a life of CICL was presented. ###
(Contributed by: Vivien L. Agustin, RJJWC AdAs III)
