Juvenile Justice Bill

SPONSORSHIP SPEECH ON THE JUVENILE JUSTICE BILL
Senate Bill 1402

Delivered by SENATOR FRANCIS PANGILINAN
(taken from http://www.kiko.ph/speeches/100505-juvenile.html)

Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen of this august Chamber, the film you have just seen is a shortened version of the internationally acclaimed Filipino documentary “Bunso.” The film has won the country several awards and gained for the Filipino film maker a recognition for his exceptional talent. While we rejoice and wallow in pride for the acknowledgement of a film of great merit, after watching the film this representation feels a certain melancholy about the gloomy disposition of the child and youth offenders incarcerated and confined in substandard stockades. Bunso gave us a glimpse of the deplorable conditions that affect tens of thousands of Filipino youth confined in jails throughout the country.

Mr. President, every Filipino child is a treasured possession. Parents painstakingly take care of their children so they are properly guided and do not lose moral character. However, the scenario of family disintegration has resulted in the steady rise in juvenile delinquency. And juvenile delinquency has become a major concern not only of families, but even of schools, of the government and, now of society as a whole.

Mr. President, yes, the young people have to be held accountable for the crimes they commit. Day by day, we are staggered with the increase in the number of juvenile delinquents, from those involved in truancy, to gang activity, and even murder. This representation says YES, youth offenders have to be held accountable for their misbehavior. They must know that it is wrong to steal, that it is wrong to poke a knife up someone else’s throat and it is wrong to do drugs. Youth offenders must then be taught the difference of what is right and what is wrong. Mr. President, if we are to teach them the difference of right and wrong, we must also make sure that we institute steps to pave the way for their development and improvement. Punishing the youth delinquents by throwing them in jail together with hardened adult criminals is inconceivable. The film is an actual footage of the condition experienced by our children when they are put in jail for the crimes they have committed. It was taken in one of the jails in Cebu City. The children in the film come from the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable and miserable elements of our society. These children – many without functional families – are thrown into prison and left to rot. It is time we take them out of their misery. Mr. President, it is time we, in this Chamber, help them.

I have been to these jails, and the sad fact is children are sharing space with hardened adult criminals. It is prevalent in the Philippines. In these jails, before me, children have assembled, they who are languishing on death row. My heart bleeds for them. If this is how we punish our youth offenders, this is too severe. This is the height of cruelty to our children and the idea makes me sick to my stomach. I therefore urge my Honorable colleagues to view the film in its entirety, so they would understand the unceasing grief I wail.

Mr. President, for how long will we tolerate a system that abandons children – who could be reformed with a small amount of care and attention – how long will we allow them to rot in jail? As Bunso himself said in the film: “Who’s fault will it be, that we turned into hardened criminals?” This cannot be the Filipino way! This is not the humane and civilized way!

In recent months, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle and many other international news organizations released a news story of the state of the children in Philippine jails. This scandalous story about our country rocked the world afresh and sent a ripple of scorn. How many more stories similar to those in “Bunso” must be shown before we act? Mr. President, this representation earnestly seeks the support of this Chamber for the immediate passage of Senate Bill 1402 under Committee Report _______ – a measure we hope will provide the giant step toward reforming the judicial system on juvenile delinquency.

Let us talk about figures of children arrested and are now behind bars. The PNP, BJMP, Provincial and Sub Provincial Jails, Bureau of Corrections and DSWD provided the latest available data, and as of mid September, there are approximately three thousand five hundred twenty four (3,524) children confined in the various jails and detention facilities throughout the country. I say available statistics because the data is fragmented, not collected in a coordinated manner, hence does not give us an accurate overall picture.

However, the number of juvenile cases handled by the public attorney provides a different assessment. In 2002 the Public Attorney’s office handled some thirteen thousand three hundred (13,300) youth offense cases. In 2004 the number rose sharply to seventeen thousand three hundred and forty five (17,345). By the mid-point of 2005, ten thousand one hundred and thirty four (10,134) youth offender cases had been handled. The significant rise in numbers is disturbing, and if the current trend continues, the total number of juvenile cases will pass twenty thousand (20,000) this year. We are talking of tens of thousands of children - arrested, detained, tried and jailed each year. For a child, to be thrown into prison is a nightmare.

Mr. President, official records show that around 60 to 70 percent of the delinquent acts committed by juveniles are minor, victimless offenses. Records indicate that the common offenses are vagrancy, sniffing glue and petty thievery. The breakdown of the family structure and poverty are two of the major causes why children commit these offenses. We saw the children in “Bunso,” they stole on a day when their parents failed to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner. They stole because they were famished and could no longer suppress their hunger. Just the other day, we learned about a 14 year old boy from Quezon Province who was arrested for stealing 100 pesos worth of food. He waited over 6 months for a trial and later on was assisted by a humble church based NGO.

Mr. President, whenever a child commits an offense, he should be responsible for his misbehavior. Yes we agree on that premise. What we do not agree on is for a juvenile to be sent to jail where he has to live with hardened adult criminals for a petty offense. The cause of juvenile delinquency has been directed at the disintegration of the family which has resulted to a lack in direction and moral character of the youth. It is the home and the environment which molds the behavior of a child. Therefore, whenever a minor commits an act of wrongdoing, it should be considered as an indication that his environment failed to provide him the attention and guidance he needs to become a productive and effective member of society. The juvenile justice system we are proposing is one that will avoid the harsh treatment imposed on delinquent behavior. Special legal procedures should be in place to protect and guide the minor instead of subjecting him to the full force of criminal law.

We believe that there are innovative ways in dealing with and reforming juvenile delinquents. Senate Bill 1402 seeks to provide separate detention facilities for youth offenders. This is a matter of simple human decency. We can no longer sit by in comfort and allow thousands of children to be housed for months and even years with hardened criminals. The conditions we have seen in the film are simply abysmal. In the current judicial set up, detention is the rule rather than the exception. By providing separate detention facilities for the child offenders, we will foster a more conducive climate for their rehabilitation. According to UNICEF, 80 percent of children arrested for a first offense will naturally never commit another crime. Being arrested for a petty crime is traumatic enough, what more being stockaded amidst hardened adult criminals?

The creation of a proper juvenile justice system is one of the highest human rights priorities of the moment. Article 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – the most widely ratified human rights law in existence – states that the youth offender must be “treated in a manner consistent with the child’s sense of dignity and worth” and that “the State shall adopt measures dealing with such children without resorting to judicial proceedings.”

Therefore, we propose to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current age of nine to twelve years of age. There is wide consensus that a child at the age of nine or ten is developmentally unprepared to be rehabilitated through incarceration. By throwing a nine year old child in jail, for months and even years, for a petty crime, we are manufacturing a hardened criminal where one probably did not even exist. By raising the age to twelve through passage of SB 1402 we will come into compliance with standards our region adheres to.

Mr. President, the intent of Senate Bill 1402 is to be able to develop community based alternatives to criminal prosecution of the majority of youth offenders. This is the best way and it happens to be the most affordable way.

The vast majority of children who are arrested for committing an offense the first time do not go on to commit further crimes. We need to ensure that these children are not dealt with in a way that confirms them to a life of crime. Jail or detention is not the answer for these children.

The children of Bunso all share a similar mix of problems: broken families, abuse, violence, school drop-out, drug addiction and life in the streets. In almost all cases it is a failure of the adults in the child’s life that has landed that child in a situation where crime was the only option.

We are emphasizing the minor crimes here, not the serious violent offences. It is the victimless crimes that ordinarily should not result in detention. Jail is not the answer.

However, what is happening now is that child offenders are treated no differently from adult criminals. They are placed in jail, often in appalling, overcrowded conditions, with hardened criminals. These children are exposed to the worst kinds of violence and deviant behavior. They can be raped, brutalized and initiated into the fraternity of crime.

Mr. President, because we believe that the jail is not the answer to juvenile delinquency, one of the relatively new legal concepts we have introduced in this bill is “restorative justice.” Restorative justice is a process which seeks to repair the harm caused by a crime through maximum involvement of the victim, reconciliation of the offender and the community. It aims to obtain reparation for the victim, reconciliation between the offender, the offended and the community, and reassurance to the offender that he can be reintegrated into the community. Here are just a few relevant examples:

• In Thailand and Singapore restorative justice is applied through family group conferences with youth offenders and expanded probation sentencing.
• In Japan, traditional apology and forgiveness as forms of reconciliation are being adapted to address youth crime.
• In Hong Kong, courts are using Community Service Orders, to provide alternative sentences for youth offenders.
• In Minnesota, New York and other US States, victim offender meetings, family group counseling and community service sentencing are sharply reducing youth crime.

Restorative justice is a framework for dealing with crime that is gathering followers around the world. It is an essential pillar of a more enlightened juvenile justice system because it allows for diversion of youth offenders away from the justice system altogether. The key to its success is committed local involvement.

Community based diversion is another important pillar of this act. Diversion is the practice dealing with youth offenders without going to court, under certain conditions. Diversion would apply when the penalty for the crime committed is less than 6 years, in victimless crimes and in certain other cases.

At the level of the Punong Barangay, community diversion includes appropriate socio-cultural and psychological responses and proper services for the child.

Diversion responses for the youth offender may include: restitution of property, reparation of the damage caused, counseling, attendance in classes, participation in community programs, participation in courses and vocational training programs.

Here are two stories that explain exactly what we mean by community diversion of CICL:

Fifteen year old Javier had been working as a domestic laborer to supplement his family’s meager income. He was assigned to mind a small store and over time Javier stole P2000 worth of food and milk to help feed his family. He was caught and instead of being thrown in jail, a barangay diversion program went to work. Community leaders brought together Javier, his family and the victim and they worked out a plan to repay the boy’s debt to his employer. In the process, the store owner saw this was the first time Javier had strayed and he agreed to forgive the 2000 peso debt as long as he attended school under the supervision of a community NGO.

The second story is about sixteen year old Rowina who was far from home living with a distant relative under very little supervision. One day she stole some of her friend’s valuables. She was caught and barangay leaders mediated an agreement between Rowina and her friend’s family. She signed an agreement to go back to live with her family and she is now at home under supervision of a social worker.

Since 2002 the FREELAVA organization in Cebu, working in just 12 barangays, has managed to divert 1000 cases just like Javier and Rowina from detention and criminal proceedings. During this time, the Cebu City detention center for minors has seen its population decline from an average of 160 to around 60. This program has relied mainly on available resources and can be replicated in thousands of barangays throughout the country.

Dealing with the problem of youth offenders is much more complicated than just turning loose all the children currently in jail. For this reason the bill calls for the creation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and delinquency prevention under the Department of Justice. The office will oversee this act and coordinate national implementation of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention program. It will also educate the public and community leaders in restorative justice and community diversion of certain youth offenders.

Another important feature of the bill is the legal provisions relating to detention of children pending trial. Wherever possible, youth offenders should be released on recognizance, hopefully with adult supervision. Since detention should be used only as a measure of last resort, we propose that the youth offenders be under close adult supervision, intensive care or placement with a family, or educational setting or home instead. Diversion must begin before court judgment, as all too often poor children from broken homes languish in jail for months or years before their cases are heard. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology 2005 statistics recently showed that 96% of children currently in municipal jails are awaiting trial.

Finally, for too long we have been trying to tackle this problem piece meal. That is why we need a comprehensive juvenile justice system now. Such a system will organize and train communities to develop home grown, locally managed justice measures. This will allow police and prosecutors more humane alternatives in disposing of simple cases. In the end, we not only reduce the burden on our criminal justice system but we also allow thousands of unfortunate children to have a chance at rehabilitation.

Mr. President, let us keep our children from the jails, for a jail is not a place for a child.